Camera apps must have a continuous light option in photo mode.

This is a feature Xiaomi phones have that I sorely miss on Samsung phones. It is one of those things that make me shake my head and think "how could Samsung still leave out something this simple?".

There are several good reasons to have a continuous lamp option in photo mode, in addition to the short flash.

• Eye comfort: A sudden short bright flash in a dark environment could cause eye discomfort.
• Real-time preview: If you are in a dark environment, a continuous light feature helps you adjusting the camera. It helps you point the camera and focus and adjust parameters such as exposure and light sensitivity and white balance without depending on an external light source. With the non-continuous flash, you have to hope that the camera focuses and adjusts exposure correctly. You have no control.
• Speed: With flash on, the camera will turn on the light for a few seconds to be able to autofocus. With continuous light, it already focuses while the light is on and is immediately able to capture once you press the button. No need to refocus every time for each picture.
• Avoids disturbance: Unlike a sudden short flash, a continuous light lets you take pictures in a dim room without causing people from the other end of the room looking your way.
• Prevents epilepsy attacks: Some people suffer from epilepsy unfortunately. A continuous light feature would be more convenient for them.
• Illuminated burst shots: Although I rarely ever use burst mode, illuminating burst shots with no external light source is another possibility you get with a continuous light in photo mode.
• Magnifying glass: While some smartphones (Samsung included) have separate apps for a virtual magnification glass, it is convenient to have it built right into the camera app. With a built in light, the readability of text in darkness is significantly improved.
• QR code scanning: What if you want to scan a QR code in darkness? Modern smartphone camera applications feature a built-in QR code scanner, but unless the photo viewer features built-in QR code detection too, you can't scan QR codes in darkness without continuous light. Without a continuous lamp feature, you depend on an external light source. Imagine having to ask your friend to turn on their phone lamp just so you can scan a QR code because the camera app won't let you use the built-in flash of your phone as a continuous lamp. Embarrassing.

I am posting this so I can link anyone here who asks "why do you need a continuous light in photo mode? The flash is brighter!"

Now you know why.

I wonder how long Samsung will need to implement this simple feature. In the early 2010s, people already started asking for a light on/off switch that could be used while recording a video, not just before it. It took Samsung over a decade to add this simple thing when it shouldn't have taken a single afternoon. In 2015, on the S6 running Android 5.0, the torch light accessed from the quick settings menu would actually stay on after you launched the camera, but it seems this was just accidental, because since the Android 6.0 update and the S7, launching the camera turns off the torch light.

It could be because EXIF does not support storing a "continuous light" parameter. I haven't found out whether it does, but if not, that could be a reason. EXIF supports custom fields anyway, which can be used for this.

[I hereby release this post into the public domain, CC0 1.0. Feel free to copy and paste this anywhere. You don't have to credit me.]

I did some testing at an electronics store. Here are the results:

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra​

The "industry leader" - still without the fourth lamp option in photo mode.

Xiaomi Redmit Note 15 Pro​

Arguably the most advanced smartphone camera in existence as of writing. 8K, 4K 120, and a wealth of camera features for power users, even including a histogram! Although it lacks a 200 megapixel normal angle lens. The only 200-megapixel lens is the telescope lens (indicated as "4.3×" zoom in the camera app).

The camera software does feature a continuous light in photo mode, but strangely does not let you turn on or off the lamp while recording a video, something handheld camcorders Panasonic and Sony had in 2010.

Sony Xperia​

Strangely, there were no Xperia phones at the electronics store. But from what I remember, Sony had a continuous light option in photo mode with the Xperia Z2 (2014) or something around that time. Sony apparently was by far the first one to have it.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro​

Embarrassingly it neither has a continuous light option in photo mode, nor a light toggle while recording a video.

I doubt the iPhone 17 (presented today, but shipping will take some weeks) will have it. If Apple hasn't introduced this by now, they are probably deliberately leaving this out for some reason. Maybe they think it is "feature creep" (it isn't). Apple has historically been rather minimalist on the user interface side of things.

Google Pixel 10 Pro​

None of the two. Same as iPhone 17. Come on, Google.

Also, all photo and video modes are on a separate page. There is a switch that switches between showing photo modes only and video modes only. It would be better if there was some way to start a video recording from photo mode in a single tap, like Samsung's camera UI had from the S4 to the S9 before they copied the Apple iOS 7 camera layout, going back to separate modes.

I understand the benefit of a separate video mode, which is that the camera is prepared to start recording with no delay, but there should still be a shortcut in photo mode.

But something I liked about Google's camera UI: the settings are well-organized and have question mark buttons on them that open a window explaining the setting. So that is user-friendly.


[I hereby release this post into the public domain, CC0 1.0.]