Sony app camera in the sony e/ builds

udengoogle · January 17, 2022, 3:28pm

@manoj. I am using the rom build from @petefoth for the device sony xz1 compact where you can find the camera app from Sony that you can have and get from the sony development website.
I am just wondering , and I know that you have like e/ the desire that every single device have the same experience, why dont you use the original app if possible in these devices from sony.

Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/ the unGoogled mobile OS and online services phone

Manoj · January 17, 2022, 11:00pm

Original camera app software if dependent on proprietary software cannot be used on /e/. In case the stock has only Open source code, then it can be considered. We also try to have a consistent experience across all devices.

petefoth · January 18, 2022, 8:28am

That is not strictly correct. It is perfectly possible to include such proprietary software in /e/, but /e/ have chosen not to allow it in their official builds. They could make a different choice, but ther is no sign of that at the moment.

Manoj · January 18, 2022, 8:34am

Hi @petefoth let me take this up a bit further in the /e/ hierarchy. Pl can you share a link from where you get the code for the devices you maintain.

udengoogle · January 18, 2022, 9:04am

you can have all what you look after in the web of Sony developer

udengoogle · January 18, 2022, 9:05am

In this case , luckily you can have the open source camera from Sony

petefoth · January 18, 2022, 9:28am

The comment only apples to Xperia XZ1C lilac

The code for my original lilac builds came from Whatawurst’s gitgub repos. The camera is only present in the lineageos-17.1 branch, as the camera does not (yet) work with Android 11 / R

Device tree https://github.com/whatawurst/android_device_sony_lilac/tree/lineage-17.1
Kernel https://github.com/whatawurst/android_kernel_sony_msm8998/tree/lineage-17.1
vendor blobs extracted by me from an upstream lineageos-17.1 ROM, and added to /e/ proprietary_vendor_sony repo

The other devices I maintain do not include Sony proprietary camera

Xperia Z5 Compact suzuran

Device
- https://github.com/Professor-Berni/android_device_sony_suzuran/tree/lineage-17.1
- https://github.com/Professor-Berni/android_device_sony_kitakami-common/tree/lineage-17.1
Kernel https://github.com/Professor-Berni/android_kernel_sony_msm8994/tree/lineage-18.1 (/e/ q builds use the LOS18.1 kerne branch)
Vendor blobs
- https://github.com/Professor-Berni/proprietary_vendor_sony/tree/lineage-17.1
- https://github.com/Professor-Berni/proprietary_vendor_sony_extras/tree/lineage-17.1

Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact are officially supported by LOS, so code comes from the LOS Repos, and vendor blobs from TheMuppets

udengoogle · January 18, 2022, 9:31am

I thought you got all from Sony developer

petefoth · January 18, 2022, 9:35am

No. It may have come from there originally, but I got it from the maintainers of the LOS unofficial ROMs

udengoogle · January 18, 2022, 9:38am

So maybe is better to send the e/ developers straight to Sony developer world, cause they will know how to get the opensource camera app from there , dont u think?

petefoth · January 18, 2022, 9:39am

@Manoj asked where I got my sources. I got them from the places I mentioned.

Manoj · January 18, 2022, 10:11am

A team member who checked responded that there is no Camera code in the Sony Developer code site. In case there is a location we missed, pl share, and we can have a look. Off course, it will need to be checked for any google traces.

udengoogle · January 18, 2022, 10:20am

So then they have to check what @petefoth has wrote

petefoth · January 18, 2022, 11:43am

The camera is not built from source. Along with a whole lot of software that is in the /e/ ROMs, it comes from the proprietary vendor blobs extracted (originally) from the device.

You originally said (my emphasis)

I was challenging that statement because such proprietary software can be run but /e/ chooses not to because it’s not open source. That’s a valid choice, even though I disagree with it , and even though all /e/ ROMs include proprietary, closed source software via vendor binary blobs extracted from devices. It’s just a question of which proprietary, closed source software /e/ chooses to include.

I believe the ‘proprietary software’ issue is a red herring, and the main reason /e/ doesn’t include the Sony Camera app is

even though not all devices have the same UI / user experience

FM Radio apps are not present in all devices, because some devices don’t support it
WiFi calling and VoLTE are similarly not present where the device or the user’s carrier do not support it

Including such apps means the the UI / UX is not identical, but it is apparently still judged to be “consistent”. Including the Sony Camera app would not be any different in my opinion: the Ui would be different, but still consistent.

At the end of the day, whether or not an app is or is not present in the /e/ ROMs is mostly not because that software ‘cannot be run’. It is a choice by whoever at /e/ is responsible for UI design. It happens that I disagree with those choices, particularly when they make an /e/ phone “worse” (from a user perspective) than the stock ROM.

Manoj · January 19, 2022, 12:19am

Over three years on this forum, I have seen users who have different requirements. We had a user who left /e/ because of one of the social media apps (Instagram or Snapchat do not remember which one) did not work on it.
Ultimately, users will have to decide what it is that they are really interested in. If they absolutely need the camera and all its functionality to work, then maybe they should stick to ROM’s that can use proprietary software. /e/ and open source code has its limitations.
For /e/ the rules are very simple. If the camera source has proprietary files, it will not be possible to add it to /e/. For e.g. we are working on finding alternatives to Magic Earth which has proprietary code.
We do understand that Cameras are an essential part of smartphones, and we are on the lookout for skilled developers who can help us with improving the existing camera app. Which is why I asked for links to such open source camera libraries in this thread. I had contacted the developer behind the OpenCamera, but unfortunately he did not have the bandwidth to take up additional work.

petefoth · January 19, 2022, 5:01pm

Or stick to the unofficial builds

udengoogle · January 19, 2022, 6:01pm

Is understandable tha e/ is doing a great effort to get OS running. This is not about leaving a project that we love , is more about how to do it better, like you said to try to make a better camera. Is just an idea if the phones can have better quality camera it will be an upgrade to the devices and to be able to facilitate that cameras to the clients will be a great extra.

Hope that a great developer will pop up soon and help to improve this issue. Crossing fingers for it

we are working on finding alternatives to Magic Earth which has proprietary code.

you might allready know that there is this app called Organic Maps in F-droid. Is not as good as Magic Earth but is the same than Open Camera is not as good than Sony camera

MaxO · December 23, 2023, 3:17pm

Hi there!
and merry Christmas or thelike…
Is there any progress or update on the Sony Camera app topic @Manoj ?
I just several different Sony phones and tablets myself and spread them also in my surrounding and often find myself defending /e/ because of complaints because of the bad camera quality on these devices with the ROM. For me personally its not so important, but for the general smartphone user its one of the main functions.
I know its an old topic, sorry.
But maybe there still can be something won here!
Thanks everybody at /e/, and also @petefoth for his builds (that I am using almost exclusively)

Manoj · December 23, 2023, 10:55pm

Getting a generic solution for smartphone cameras has been a challenge. There are issues raised on multiple vendor devices about the cameras. The issues are

improving camera picture quality
fully utilizing the multiple cameras provided in most present day devices
We have an open job position for some time, as you can see in this screenshot.

MaxO · December 25, 2023, 3:32pm

I see, thank you.
Hope there will be a solution to this one day, will make spreading /e/ even more satisfying