Android 11 makes it harder to use third-party camera apps

Android 11 will include a change that will make it harder to use third-party camera apps. In the name of security, Google is removing the camera picker, which will basically force people to use the built-in camera app. Android Police explains the changes to Android's Intent system over here. Google says this is needed to increase security and privacy, but the search giant doesn't explain exactly why the change was necessary.

At the heart of this change is one of the defining traits of Android: the Intent system. Let's say you need to take a picture of a novelty coffee mug to sell through an auction app. Since the auction app wasn't built for photography, the developer chose to leave that up to a proper camera app. This where the Intent system comes into play. Developers simply create a request with a few criteria and Android will prompt users to pick from a list of installed apps to do the job.

However, things are going to change with Android 11 for apps that ask for photos or videos. Three specific intents will cease to work like they used to, including: VIDEO_CAPTURE, IMAGE_CAPTURE, and IMAGE_CAPTURE_SECURE. Android 11 will now automatically provide the pre-installed camera app to perform these actions without ever searching for other apps to fill the role.