If you're one of the proud owners of a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Google Nexus 4, Nexus 7, or Nexus 10, you may have noticed that your device recently updated to the latest version of Android, code-named "Jelly Bean". You may have also said to yourself, "I don't really see a difference." Fear not, for the candy-named update wasn't a waste of time, you just have to know where to look for the changes.
The camera app received probably the biggest face lift of any Android program, and all for the better. Just about everything is different, and so, so delicious.
To start, the user interface (UI) is much clearer and easier to navigate. Instead of dotted lines, the bottom panel contains three straightforward buttons; a camera icon on the lower left that changes the picture type (still camera, video, panoramic, and Photo Sphere, which we'll discuss later), a large grey and blue button in the middle for snapping photos, and a circle icon on the lower right that opens up the camera options (including flash and switch between front and rear-facing camera).
While the simplified UI is a plus, the hands-down coolest thing about the camera refresh is the new Photo Sphere option. Phone photographers can now take 360-degree pictures by aligning the easy-to-find blue dot on the screen inside the orb, then moving the camera any direction to align the blue dot again. Taking full room snapshots is a breeze. Though the pieced-together images aren't flawless, they do open up a new world of photography.
If not for Photo Sphere, the upgraded photo editing menu would have taken grand prize for greatest camera change. Pulling an image up in Gallery now opens a slew of editing options, such as adding color filters, framing images, and cropping shots. Now users can upload edited images to facebook, Twitter, and Google+, without having to download additional apps or uploading to their computers.
For more information on Jelly Bean changes/additions/new features, check out Android.com's full patch list.
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