After releasing the Blackmagic Camera app for iOS last fall, Blackmagic Design is finally bringing the photographer enthusiast app to Android phones. The new app is available starting today (June 24).
For those unfamiliar with the Blackmagic Design name, the Australian company is famous for making high-end cameras for filmmakers. They also make the video editing program DaVinci Resolve, similar to Adobe's Premiere Pro or Apple's Final Cut Pro.
The Blackmagic Camera app aims to put a cinematographer's tools into the hands of Android users. “The Blackmagic Camera app for iPhone has been incredibly popular since it was launched last year,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO in a press release. “We are excited to be able to give customers with Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel phones the same controls for shooting digital film as our professional cameras."
And that's a noteworthy limitation of the app — it is currently only available to owners of the Samsung Galaxy S23 or Galaxy S24 phones as well as the Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 8 lines. A Blackmagic Design spokesperson told The Verge that the app can be used on phones running Android 13 or later, but did not say when or if would be made available to other Android handsets.
For those who do have one of the mentioned phones, the Blackmagic camera app is completely free on Android, just like it is on iOS.
The Android version of the app will also employ the same user interface as the iOS version. Often, when apps jump from one operating system to the another, the UI gets changed. Now, if you need to hop between Android and iOS, the learning curve will be zero.
The app overlays a heads-up display that shows important information like focus, exposure and white balance. Settings can be quickly altered by tapping items on the display and adjusting in the menus that pop up.
Users looking to collaborate on projects can sign up for Blackmagic Design's cloud service. Footage shot in the app can be captured directly to the cloud where editors can grab it as needed. The app also features a built-in chat mode that lets users communicate with collaborators in the cloud about ongoing projects.
It doesn't appear that the app has editing tools, but that's probably for the best. It allows Blackmagic Design to focus on making a tool for shooters. If you need an editing tool, check out our favorite photo editing apps that work on both iOS and Android devices.
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