Vivo’s Android camera app makes Pixel and Galaxy ones feel outdated

But while I was enjoying my honeymoon period with that camera hardware, I found myself appreciating something far less flashy, but far more useful in day-to-day use: the default camera app

It’s one of those features that doesn’t show up in spec sheets, yet it quietly changes how comfortable a phone feels to use, especially one so camera-forward as the vivo X300 Ultra. And after spending some time with it, I genuinely think this is something Google and Samsung should copy for Pixel and Galaxy phones. And it looks like Apple is convinced, too.

The vivo camera app is ridiculously customizable in a way most Android brands don’t even attempt. At the top of the camera UI, vivo gives you a fully customizable “Shortcut bar.” You can choose up to four controls to permanently sit on top for quick access. There’s also another set of up to three customizable shortcuts that can appear directly inside the viewfinder on the right side.

In both of these areas, you can place options like:

• Manual/auto focus toggle
• Super Macro
• Google Lens
• High Resolution mode
• Live Photo
• Aspect Ratio
• Raw Lighting
• Countdown timer
• Styles/filters
• Snapshot mode

What I love is that vivo doesn’t force its own priorities on me. I can completely rearrange these controls, move them around, remove them, or add new ones, depending on what kind of shooting I’m doing or the setup I prefer when I fire up the camera app. Seeing too many shortcuts can sometimes be confusing and unnecessary, and this way, I can prioritize the options I use frequently over those I rarely touch.

For instance, if I’m casually taking photos outdoors, I can prioritize aspect ratio and Live Photo. If I’m experimenting with close-up shots, I can keep macro and manual focus easily accessible. And if I don’t want any clutter whatsoever, I can strip everything down. That flexibility is great, especially compared to being stuck with a camera UI you can’t change at all.

Most smartphone camera apps still operate under the assumption that there’s one correct layout for everyone. That’s especially true on Pixel and Galaxy phones. Don’t get me wrong, both Samsung and Google offer feature-packed camera apps that are actually pleasant to look at and use. At the same time, they are incredibly rigid, with no way to customize controls or organize features like you can on vivo phones.

The app even lets you customize the Toolbox, the bottom row of camera tools that appears when you tap the options button. You can fully rearrange this row by simply dragging options up or down to prioritize the controls you use most.

These tools overlap with the shortcut options. So if you prefer a cleaner shooting experience, you can remove all shortcuts from the main interface and rely on the Toolbox only when needed.

The customization options don’t end here. You can even add, remove, or rearrange the Main screen modes that show up next to the Photo and Video options. Obviously, those two are grayed out and can’t be altered because they are the main shooting modes, but the rest can absolutely be customized. Moreover, you can add to those options, including Pro Photo mode, Ultra HD Document (to snap clear pictures of a document), Food photo mode, and more.

This is the level of customization every Android phone, heck, every phone, should offer. If it’s my phone, I want the camera UI to feel personal and tailored to how I shoot, rather than being limited to what a brand thinks I should use.

Taking customization and personalization of the camera app a step further, 3vivo also includes five camera UI presets:

• Default
• Immersive
• Stage
• Scenic
• Video Creation

And these aren’t just cosmetic themes; they actually reorganize the camera experience, including the mode carousel, toolbox, and shortcut layout.

For example, the Immersive preset removes some top shortcuts and reduces the visible controls to prioritize a cleaner shooting experience. The carousel also gets simplified to just Photo, Video, Portrait, and More. Meanwhile, the Video Creation preset pushes video tools and modes to the forefront, while Stage surfaces concert-focused shooting features.

So if you don’t want to go through the hassle of organizing your camera layout, you can just use one of these presets to automatically minimize distracting options.

Again, this is vivo recognizing that different users, and even the same user in different situations, want different camera experiences. That’s a level of UI flexibility we almost never see from major smartphone brands.

This sort of customizable camera approach makes so much sense that even Apple appears to be moving in this exact direction.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, Apple is planning a much more customizable Camera app for future iPhones as part of its next major software redesign. Users may reportedly be able to decide which controls appear, where they are placed, and which functions they want to prioritize.

In other words, Apple seems to have realized that camera apps should adapt to users, not the other way around.

I really hope Google and Samsung follow suit, especially as Android cameras start adopting more AI-enabled photography features that’ll only add to the crowd of options already available to users.