Install Google Camera on the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 | No Root

Welcome to quick guide to boost a really impressive camera sensor with an amazing camera app. You don’t have to worry about voiding the warranty with this process, because No Root Required.

Why Google Camera?

Here are some comparisons between the two:

Left: Google Camera || Right: Stock Camera

Left: Google Camera || Right: Stock Camera

Left: Google Camera || Right: Stock Camera

You will need the following to carry out the installation process smoothly:

• A computer: windows/mac/linux
• A USB cable.
• Internet to download the required files (or you can pre-download it).
• and of course, the Zenfone Max Pro M1.

There are three major steps in installing Google Camera:

• Step 1: Phone & ADB setup (a two step procedure in itself).
• Step 2: Enable the Camera2API.
• Step 3: Side-load the Google Camera app.

Step 1: Phone & ADB setup

Phone Setup:

Here you will enable Developer Options to “Allow USB Debugging”.

1. Launch the Settings application on your smartphone.
2. Goto System > About phone > tap Build number 7 times. This enables the Developer Mode and you can play around with Developer Options (but, carefully!).
3. Now in Settings app, goto System> Developer Options > Enable (toggle) USB Debugging. You should see a prompt — “Allow USB Debugging”, Press “OK”.

ADB Setup for Windows: (mac/linux)

At the end of this, your smartphone will be recognised to carry out the ADB commands.

1. Download the latest Platform-Tools.
2. Extract the contents of this ZIP file into a folder. Ex: C:\platformtools
3. Launch Windows Explorer, browse the location of extracted folder, Ex: C:\platformtools
4. Goto File > Open command prompt. A Command Prompt window will pop-up. (If you prefer the PowerShell on Win10, you should be knowing your way already. Refer ADB Setup for Linux for further commands.)
5. Now, connect your smartphone to the computer via USB cable. Find the item ‘USB charging this Devices’ in the Notifications > Tap for more options > select Transfer files. (Also known as MTP mode)
6. In the Command Prompt window, enter the following command to launch the ADB daemon: adb devices
7. If the Phone Setup was carried properly, you will see a prompt — “Allow USB Debugging?” . Check “Always allow from this computer” and press “OK”
8. Now, in the Command Prompt window, re-enter the previous command: adb devices . Your device’s serial number on the command prompt like so: IM23VIGNZ07PIE device .Yay! This confirms your device is recognised and you can run a bunch of ADB command (but, very carefully!).

Step 2: Enable the Camera2 API

Camera2 API to gives the camera app a better access to more advanced controls of the camera, like manual exposure (ISO, shutter speed), focus, RAW capture etc. The same is required by the Google Camera app that we’ll be installing in the next step.

1. Switch off your phone.
2. Enter the bootloader mode by pressing Power and Volume-up button, both together.
3. On the Command Prompt / Terminal run the following command:
   Windows Command Prompt: fastboot oem enable_camera_hal3 true
   Windows PowerShell: .\fastboot oem enable_camera_hal3 true
   macOS or Linux Terminal: ./fastboot oem enable_camera_hal3 true (make sure you have USB cable connected and current working directory in Command Prompt/Terminal is same the extracted directory in Step 1)
4. Now, long press the power button to shutdown the device, then, turn-on the device.

With this, Camera2API should be enabled on your smartphone. It’s always better to verify whether Camera2API is successfully enabled. Find the below link to install Camera2 API Probe from the Google Playstore.

Camera2 API Probe - Apps on Google Play

Here’s the Camera2 API Probe result on our device

Step 3: Side-load the Google Camera app

To install an app on an android device, you can either use stores like PlayStore or you can directly install(side-load) the apk from a trusted source. Google camera apk will be installed the latter way. Here’s all the details about the Google Camera Port that you’ll be installing.

1. Download the latest the Google Camera APK on your phone:
   - This was the latest version when this article was formed.
   - Here’s the xda link for the app. You may find next versions here.
2. Tap on the installed APK to install the app with default package installer. If you are prompted with third party app warning, allow it. That’s the whole point!

Now you have the perfect camera for your phone! Thanks to Asus for letting us enable Camera2 API and thanks to contributors like Arnova8G2 for having us the Google Camera Port.

You can post your queries in the comments below.
Thank You!