Android Now Has an ‘Anti-AI’ Camera App Called Zerocam

A camera app for Android that is labeled as “anti-AI” because it doesn’t overprocess photos the way most modern smartphones do has been released.

Called Zerocam, it takes Android cameras back to basics promising to “shoot in RAW and process your photos to remove all artificial effects, delivering soft, pleasant-to-eye images.”

The app is similar to Halide, an iPhone camera app. Haldie received an update a few months ago which strips away all typical iPhone image processing.

The Verge reports that Zerocam goes one step further by removing virtually all settings so the interface is just a viewfinder.

Zerocam Android released on very special date, @novikoff birthday :birthday:

This is version 0.0.0 and many improvements will come, as we did for iOS :rocket:

You can take 5 photos for free every day, or subscribe to get full access and support our work :yellow_heart:https://t.co/9okRxcRBOR

— Zerocam (@zerocam_app) November 11, 2024

“Having tested it for around a month, I’ve found that it simplifies the process of taking a photo and makes you think more about what and when you press the shutter button,” write 9to5 Google in its review of Zerocam.

“It also helps that there are no distractions to speak of, but understandably, you might not like that you can’t access other on-device lenses and features.”

Zerocam is available on iPhone too where it also has no settings or options to choose from. Just a preview of the image and a capture button.

“No Settings, Just Shooting: Forget about mode selection, exposure correction, focus peaking, or image review. You take the photo, and we handle the rest. There are no distractions, just pure photography,” say the developers per 9to5 Mac.

On the iPhone, at least the app still does have some features like being able to switch between lenses using long-press shortcuts from the Home Screen icon.

Zerocam says it captures photos in a unique way: “removing excessive post-processing and applying subtle color grading to make the output photo pleasant to the eye.”

Zerocam is available to download for free on the Google Play Store but users are limited to taking five photos per day. A subscription costs $0.99 per month or $10.00 for a year. It runs on Android 12 or later.