With the Galaxy S22 series, Samsung released the Camera Assistant app that offered more granular control over the stock Camera app's behavior and performance. Later, the Camera Assistant app was released to more high-end Galaxy smartphones in the Galaxy Note, Galaxy S, and Galaxy Z series. However, the Auto Lens Switching feature was limited to the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S23 series.
Now, Samsung has released an updated version of the Camera Assistant app (version 1.1.01.0). It brings the Auto Lens Switching feature to more Galaxy smartphones, including the Galaxy Note 20 series, Galaxy S20 series, Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Z Fold 3, and the Galaxy Z Fold 4 series. These devices will only get the Auto Lens Switching feature if they're running the One UI 5.1 update. Sadly, the feature hasn't been extended to the Galaxy Z Flip series, Galaxy Z Fold, Galaxy Z Fold 5G, and Galaxy Z Fold 2.
You can download the latest version of the Camera Assistant app only from the Galaxy Store on your compatible Galaxy smartphone.
Why does Camera Assistant's Auto Lens Switching feature matter, and how does it work?
Auto Lens Switching is turned on by default on compatible Samsung phones, which means the stock Camera app on a compatible phone will switch between the primary and telephoto lens based on the available ambient lighting. As you know, the telephoto camera on smartphones doesn't have an aperture as wide as the primary camera, and the sensor size is also smaller. So, the telephoto camera can't gather as much light as the primary camera.
In low-light situations, if the phone thinks there isn't enough ambient light to offer a good image from the telephoto camera, it switches automatically to the primary camera and crops from it to capture a zoomed-in shot. But if you want to stop that behavior and force the camera app to use only the lens you intended to use, you can disable the Auto Lens Switching feature from the Camera Assistant app.
SamsungGalaxy S20 5G
SamsungGalaxy S21
SamsungGalaxy S22
SamsungGalaxy Z Fold 3
