I banished messy fingerprint smudges by switching to Android's built-in touchless camera features

by · Android Police

I like my Google Pixel camera phone a lot. The camera on it is one of the best features and the reason I am a faithful Google Pixel user.

I do use it a lot, taking over 1,000 photos and hundreds of videos for over a year, making it my daily driver until I reached my Google Photos storage limit.

It delivers fantastic image quality and is very fast at taking pictures, especially in well-lit scenes.

Snapping photos only slows down when I take selfies or when my hands are sweaty, leaving a mess on my phone's screen.

Smudges are a major enemy and a source of frustration when I want to capture images quickly without missing a moment.

Even so, I mostly struggle to reach the shutter button with one hand (blame my small hands and that most brands ditched the physical shutter button).

However, there are gestures and tricks I use to take pictures without touching my phone's camera screen and having to figure out whether I really tapped the digital shutter.

Surprisingly, they are well implemented on my Android devices and are reliable alternatives to the on-screen controls.

Related

My Pixel Camera is infinitely better since I tweaked these settings

Hidden camera settings for professional photos

Posts 15
By  Parth Shah

Palm timer

Use a manual timer as a backup

I'm not sure exactly which brand popularized the palm detection for the camera timers. But I remember using it on LG and Sony Android phones over a decade ago.

There were also third-party camera apps that support this gesture, along with other creative actions like double-squeezing or a V sign.

A few years ago, Google added this as a built-in feature in the Pixel camera app and even as a default on Pixel devices.

On my Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, I hold my palm towards the active camera frame until the timer starts, as confirmed by the LED flash.

The only option for the countdown timer is three seconds, and there's no setting to adjust it, but I'll share a workaround below.

It works on both front and rear cameras and with different lenses. However, I find it to be slower than my Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 at detecting my palm or other participants' palms.

It also misses some of the palm gestures I make, especially when my hand is slightly angled, whereas my Galaxy phone recognizes them even when my palm is not fully open.

I also don't rely on it for group photos taken with the rear cameras, especially when using a slightly distant framing. Instead, I opt for a manual timer for better flexibility.

The palm timer is not supported for videos. You need to rely on voice commands or a remote control when recording a clip while the camera phone is on a tripod or a stand.

If you have an older Pixel or Android phone that doesn't come with a palm timer, you can set a classic timer that works for taking photos. There are 3, 5, and 10-second intervals.

Gemini or Google Assistant

Use your voice to control your camera

While I use a palm timer for most selfie photos and selfie videos, Gemini or Google Assistant is a more reliable alternative when I want to shoot with the rear cameras.

It works by summoning Gemini, allowing you to get confirmation from the chatbot. It's a little friction, but it works every time as long as my Pixel phone can clearly hear my "Hey Google" voice commands.

When confirmed, it will begin a three-second countdown. You can extend this to 10 seconds by changing the prompt or by speaking with the chatbot in mid-sentence.

Even better, it works in videos by just adding "record video" or "record" to the prompt.

There's one caveat, however. Waking up Gemini or Google Assistant is a challenge if I'm in a noisy environment.

At the same time, enable the Hey Google voice feature and the Utilities toggle in Personal Intelligence inside Connected apps before using Gemini to control your camera.

I feel Samsung does a better job of voice command flexibility. It lets me take photos using a single-word command like "cheese" or "smile" for photos and "record video" for videos.

These commands are much quicker to say and much more foolproof.

Back panel and buttons

Tap or long press to capture

If you plan to take more photos and videos with the front camera, setting up buttons as a camera shutter is also an effective trick.

Depending on the Android phone, this can be enabled via the back panel, volume buttons, or side buttons.

In Pixels, the back panel can be configured to launch an app or trigger an action, a feature called Quick Tap.

I set this to launch the flashlight, but if I need to travel, I can have this as a backup to the palm timer.

I can still use my finger to perform the actions, but it's a much better implementation than having my finger fly across the screen.

On my Samsung Galaxy phone and tablet, the same action can be assigned to the volume buttons, which are enabled by default inside Shooting methods in the camera settings.

I can also back this up with the side button shortcut, which lets me assign the volume buttons to still images and the side button to recording videos.

Which is the ideal touchless camera feature?

If you ask me, I will be using the palm timer as long as my camera phone doesn't fail to detect my sloppy hand gestures.

While Gemini is a nice option, I feel it's slower and has a major limitation if I don't have an active internet connection.

Samsung's devices, on the other hand, offer better voice controls that, when paired with the palm timer, can provide reliable hands-free camera control.

If you mix a couple of these gestures, you can create a solid method for controlling your camera phone without lifting a finger.

  • Like
    Follow
    Followed

    Google Pixel 9 Pro XL

    $700 $1099 Save $399
    SoC
    Google Tensor G4
    RAM
    16GB
    Storage
    128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
    Battery
    5,060mAh
    Ports
    USB-C

    The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL offers a premium design and excellent camera. It's now heavily discounted at major retailers.

    $800 at Amazon $700 at Best Buy
    Expand Collapse

  • Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7

    $900 $1100 Save $200
    SoC
    Exynos 2500
    RAM
    12GB
    Storage
    256GB/12GB
    Battery
    4300mAh
    Operating System
    Android 16 with One UI 8

    The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 offers versatile shooting mode using its foldable design.

    $900 at Samsung $940 at Amazon
    Expand Collapse