Google Camera ports can’t use additional cameras in OxygenOS 12

It appears that starting with OxygenOS 12, OnePlus will no longer allow camera apps such as Google Camera ports to access the additional cameras, such as those for macro or zoom photos. That is a limitation that phones from parent company Oppo have had for some time, the developers say.

“OnePlus is blocking access to the auxiliary cameras on Android 12,” the developers said in their Telegram channel. “It worked on Android 11, but now nothing works. Oppo phones have had this limitation for a while.” The advice of the developers is not to update to Android 12 if they like to use Gcam. “It’s getting worse instead of better,” they conclude. OnePlus and parent company Oppo are working on closer integration with each other.

The OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro have an ultrawide, telephoto and monochrome camera in addition to the standard camera. The last three are therefore not accessible in Gcam. It is unclear whether this applies to all custom camera apps on Android. Anyone who still likes to combine Android 12 and Gcam now seems to have to move to a custom ROM.

OxygenOS 12 is available for the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro, since a few days. However, the roll-out was halted at the end of this week due to various technical issues. It is not clear when the release of the new version will continue. OnePlus wants to do that ‘as soon as possible’. Tweaker and administrator of the unofficial Oxygen Updater app AnonymousWP reported that the Android 12 update for the phones is the same as beta 3.

The Google Camera Ports attempt to transfer the functionality of the Google Camera app from the Pixel models to other phones. This concerns features such as HDR +, portrait mode, motion photos, panorama, lens blur, 60fps video, slow motion and more, according to the developers. Certainly on midrange and low-end phones, the apps can deliver much better quality than standard camera apps.