While using these cameras is made easy by simply tapping the camera app in the app gallery or home screen, some users may want faster access to their phone’s camera. Being able to access your Android phone’s camera faster can come in handy during various situations. Like if you are out for a leisurely stroll and spot something interesting, you only have a split second to capture it on your phone. There are features built into your Android device and third-party apps that allow you to get quick access to your phone’s camera. And if you are wondering how exactly you can use these features and apps, you are in luck. I have put together some simple ways that you can use to access your Android phone’s camera, so keep reading.
Why is it important to access your phone camera faster?
Smartphone photography is not a dream anymore; in fact, it became a reality a long time ago thanks to powerful Android camera phones. If you are a journalist, blogger, content creator, or even a hobbyist photographer, capturing moments quickly is probably important to you. While your smartphone camera app allows you to do just that, it still requires you to take a few steps to unlock and access your phone. So there is always a need to make accessing your Android camera app faster, and I will help you achieve just that with the help of easy methods explained in the next section.
Methods to access your Android phone’s camera quickly
Ideally, you want to be able to take your Android phone out of your pocket and start recording, right? These methods can be used to make accessing your Android phone’s camera surprisingly fast:
1. Access your phone’s camera from the locked screen
Every Android smartphone brand running a relatively modern Android version comes with a handy camera icon right at the bottom right of the locked screen. This feature allows users to simply swipe the camera icon available on their Android phone’s locked screen to open up the camera app.
You can then use your camera to take a photo or record a video quickly without having to unlock the phone, finding the camera app, and launching it to take a photo.
2. Double press the power or volume button to launch the camera app
Another neat option comes built into newer Android devices, which allows you to turn on your Android phone’s camera without even accessing the locked screen first. This feature allows users to jump directly to the camera app while your phone’s screen is locked without any additional steps. All you have to do is press the power button or the volume down button of your Android device twice. While some devices may have quick camera access bound to double-pressing the power button, most Chinese Android phone brands have this feature bound to double-pressing the volume down button. This feature is truly the fastest way to access your phone’s camera from any position at any time. If swiping the camera app seems too time-consuming for you then you can use this feature instead. However, keep in mind that this feature will only work if your device supports it and in some devices, this camera shortcut might not be available.
3. Use Smooth Camera Launcher Android app
Not all hope is lost if your phone doesn’t support the quick gestures and shortcuts mentioned above to access the camera app. Since there is an app for everything, you can use a lightweight app called Smooth Camera Launcher to access your phone’s camera from anywhere. However, this app only allows you to use the shortcut keys to access your phone’s camera app while the screen is unlocked. Once you install the app and launch it you are welcomed by a welcome screen that tells you about the different features available through the app. When you have gone through the introductory screen, you will be taken to settings where you have the Hotkey for launching the camera option. You can use this option to set a hotkey that you can use to quickly launch the camera app.
However, keep in mind that you have to use these hotkeys while keeping your phone in landscape orientation to launch your Android phone’s camera app.
Conclusion
While the built-in quick launch camera features are the best way to launch your phone’s camera app, the Smooth Camera Launcher provides an alternative for phones that lack these features. I hope the methods listed above will allow you to access your Android phone’s camera app quickly.
