Adobe Allegedly Want to Make a Universal Camera App and They Got the Best Man for the Job

• Google’s Marc Levoy has just joined Adobe, and rumors talk about a new “universal camera” app project.
• Marc Levoy is the head behind the Google Camera app that works wonders for the Pixel line.
• Adobe may want to turn their “Photoshop Camera” into a powerhouse, or just create something new.

Adobe has snatched Marc Levoy, and they are reportedly working on an exciting new project. Levoy is the computer graphics researcher behind the magic stuff that Google Pixel devices have been delivering in the past couple of years. The Pixels boast top-notch imaging performance even if they are deploying single-lens camera units, so the trickery isn’t happening on the hardware but the software level, namely the Google Camera app.

Levoy has been working on the project since 2014, delivering features like the “Top Shot,” “Smartburst,” “stabilization,” “astrophotography,” “Google Lens,” “HDR+,” “Portrait Mode,” and many more.

Related: The Entire 2020 Lineup of Google’s Pixel Smartphones Has Reportedly Leaked

In May 2020 though, Google decided to lose Marc Levoy, in a controversial move that left Pixel fans baffled. Some reported that Google was not exactly happy with the direction the Pixel project was following, so they decided to start the refresh by dropping important department heads. One was the Phone Manager Mario Queiroz, and the second was Marc Levoy. Adobe was among the first to realize the opportunity, so they moved quickly and convinced the researcher to join them and work on a universal camera app project.

The Google Cam is so good that users of any Android device model are using unofficial ports of the app to get better photographic results through their devices. The algorithms used in the app are so good that no other OEM camera app has come close. Of course, Levoy won’t be able to just take Google’s secrets and use them in a new app for Adobe. Still, his expertise will unquestionably be invaluable no matter what legal restrictions apply.

All that said, what Adobe is going for here is still unclear, but we hope they’ll release something for all Android devices. After all, this is what the entire Android community has been asking for all these years, but Google preferred to keep the GCam app exclusively for the Pixel line. Of course, iOS would be nice to cover as well, but Apple is already doing a great job in the camera and imaging department.

Adobe has an app called “Photoshop Camera” on the Play Store and the App Store, which focuses on having “fun with filters” and applying Photoshop effects on the fly. They could be planning to make that app better, as users are currently reporting horrible capture detail and overall camera performance.

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