Can't launch the camera on your Galaxy S8 or S8+ by double-pressing the power button? You might not be alone. It seems that the quick launch camera option might not be present on some Galaxy S8 and S8+ units. We received review units of the two devices here in India last week, and realized that the feature is missing from both. We're not sure if this was an issue out of the box or a result of the software update that we downloaded on the first day, but it's certainly not available anywhere in the phones' settings (at least in our review units in India, but it could be a bug in the firmware as well).
The ability to launch the camera quickly with a double-press of the home button is one of the nicest features Samsung has introduced in its smartphones in the last couple of years, and with the S8 and S8+, the removal of the home button means users have to use the power button. It's not a feature we would want missing, and here's hoping Samsung will bring it back soon with a software update. Well, unless it's deliberate, although we can't think of a reason – legal or otherwise – why such a feature might need to be removed in some markets.
Do you have the quick launch camera option on your Galaxy S8/S8+? You can check if it's available either from the camera settings or from the Advanced features menu in the device settings.
Update: Samsung has provided us an official statement, and the lack of the quick launch camera shortcut is due to government regulations in India. Here's the full statement:
For all India region devices, it is a legal regulation to launch “emergency /SOS mode” when clicking power button three times. This overlaps the use case of Galaxy S8's global feature, camera quick launch when double clicking the power button. Since consumers may click power button for three times instead of twice, by any mistake, so we did not include quick launch feature within India regional device.
Hope this gives you further background.
Thank you.
