Samsung Camera Assistant: Every Setting and When to Use It
What each Samsung Camera Assistant setting does, how to install it, recipes for kids, pets, low light and portraits, and the Galaxy S26's 24MP option.
Samsung’s camera app has a secret second settings menu! It’s called Camera Assistant, and it’s a free app by Samsung (more precisely, it’s a module from Good Lock). You’ll find a range of extra switches there, from Auto HDR and lens switching to Photo mode ISO and shutter speed limits.
Exactly which options you can tweak will vary by One UI version and phone model. We’ve listed the main ones below, so use them as a rough guide and check them against your own Camera Assistant menu.
How to install and open Camera Assistant
- 1
Install it from the Galaxy Store
Look for Camera Assistant in the Galaxy Store or download the Camera Assistant module from the Good Lock app (Good Lock is available in select countries only as per Samsung).
- 2
Open it from the camera
Tap on the Quick controls icon aka four-dots icon on your phone’s Camera app, then Settings (gear icon) and Camera Assistant (towards the end, under the Good Lock Labs section on the Galaxy S26).
- 3
Or use its own icon
You can also find Camera Assistant in your apps drawer or open it from within the Good Lock app.
- 4
Keep it updated
To receive future updates for Camera Assistant, go to Galaxy Store > Menu > Updates as new features will come as app updates and not as part of system updates.
If you find yourself making too many changes and getting confused, there’s an option to reset everything back to defaults.
What each setting does
Depending on your phone’s age and model (mid-range and older phones will have fewer options), some options will be missing and/or present in slightly different places with different names. On a Galaxy S25 Ultra with One UI 9 (Camera Assistant 4.5.00.20, checked in November 2026), Adaptive pixel and Upscale digital zoom can’t be found on the main list. Instead they are options under Advanced resolution options in the Photos section. There are also new options for accessories (such as anamorphic lenses) and 3D capture (for Galaxy XR headsets). Also note that on that phone Crop zoom shortcuts is called Zoom shortcuts and Picture softening is called Photo softening. For details about Labs and Expert RAW as well as other features not available within this app (e.g. shooting with palm shutter) refer to our list of hidden camera features.
Image processing
| Setting | What it does | When to change it |
|---|---|---|
| Auto HDR | Merges exposures to keep detail in the bright and dark parts of photos and videos. It's on by default. | Turn it off if high-contrast scenes look flat or over-processed, or if you'd rather recover shadows yourself in an editor. |
| Picture softening (Photo softening on One UI 9) | Smooths sharp edges and textures in Photo mode pictures. On the S24 Ultra it has two settings, Off and High, while a Galaxy S25 Ultra on One UI 9 offers Off, Medium and High. | Try High if Samsung's sharpening looks crunchy on faces or foliage. Leave it Off for text, buildings and fine detail. |
| Auto lens switching | Lets the camera choose the lens based on zoom level, light and distance to the subject. | Turn it off when you want 3x or 5x to stay on the telephoto, even in dim light or close up. |
| Distortion correction | Fixes lines that bow or bend because of lens and perspective distortion. | Keep it on for architecture and documents. |
| Adaptive pixel (under Advanced resolution options on One UI 9) | In the phone's words, it can "reduce noise in low light shots by combining multiple lower-resolution frames into the final high-resolution picture." | Leave it on if you shoot at 50MP or 200MP. |
| Upscale digital zoom (under Advanced resolution options on One UI 9) | "If the resolution decreases due to zoom, upscale pictures back to the resolution you selected," as the phone puts it. | Optional. It can't add detail that wasn't captured. |
| Crop zoom shortcuts (Zoom shortcuts on One UI 9) | Adds extra zoom buttons that use crops of the high-resolution sensor, which Samsung says match the quality of optical lenses. On a Galaxy S25 Ultra running One UI 9, the choices are 2x, 10x and 100x, and with 2x and 10x on, those buttons sit alongside the .6, 1x, 3x and 5x buttons. | Turn on the ones you actually use. |
Shutter and handling
| Setting | What it does | When to change it |
|---|---|---|
| Quick tap shutter | Takes the picture as soon as your finger touches the shutter button, instead of when you lift it. On One UI 9 it also takes an extra picture when you swipe or hold the shutter. | Turn it on for kids, pets and anything else that moves. |
| Prioritize focus over speed | Waits for focus to finish before the shutter fires, which can add a slight delay. | On for still subjects and close-ups, off for action. |
| Swipe Shutter button to edge to | Sets what swiping the shutter to the screen edge does, such as Take burst shot. On a Galaxy S25 Ultra running One UI 9 it's in Camera Assistant, while earlier One UI versions keep it in Camera settings. | Set it to Take burst shot for action, as our burst mode guide explains. |
| Video recording in Photo mode | Touch and hold the shutter button to start a video without switching modes. | Turn it off if you keep starting clips by accident. |
| Timer multi-photo options | Sets how many photos the timer takes, up to 7, and the gap between them. | Group photos, so at least one frame has everyone's eyes open. |
| Camera timeout | Keeps the preview open for 1, 2, 5 or 10 minutes before the camera closes itself. | Use 10 minutes on a tripod. SamMobile reported a switch to stop the camera closing at all in the One UI 9 version, but a Galaxy S25 Ultra on One UI 9 shows only the 1, 2, 5 and 10 minute options. |
| Dim screen while recording | Dims the screen after a period with no input while you're recording. | Long recordings, to save battery. |
| Clean preview on HDMI displays | Shows the camera preview without settings or buttons on an HDMI-connected display. | When you monitor on an external screen. |
| Additional modes | Adds Night, Single take and Dual rec to the camera's list of modes. On a Galaxy S25 Ultra running One UI 9 it lists Single take and Dual rec, so those two modes stay hidden until you switch them on here. Our Dual recording guide explains what Dual rec adds over the front-and-back shortcut in Video mode. | On the S26 series Night mode is hidden by default, and this is where you bring it back. |
Video, Pro video and accessories
The rest of the One UI 9 list is aimed at video and add-on hardware, and most people never need it. On a Galaxy S25 Ultra running Camera Assistant 4.5.00.20, these settings sit under:
- Focus – Settings related to focusing.
- Videos – Well, settings related to videos!
- Camera preview – Well, settings related to the camera preview!
- Capture for Galaxy XR – For recording spatial photos and videos for Galaxy XR headsets.
- External accessories – For third-party camera accessories.
| Setting | What it does | When to change it |
|---|---|---|
| Touch AF/AE in Pro video mode (AF/AE while recording) | Sets whether both focus and exposure can change once you start recording in Pro video, or only focus. | Allow only focus when you want exposure fixed for the whole take. |
| HDR10+ | Records Video and Pro video clips as HDR10+ in place of the standard HDR format. It only works once HDR is switched on in the camera's own video settings. | Only if you edit or watch on HDR10+ equipment. |
| Customize indicators | Chooses whether indicators such as flash, timer, resolution, exposure and Motion photo stay on screen or appear only when in use. | When the preview feels cluttered. |
| 3D capture | Records spatial photos and videos for Galaxy XR headsets. | Only if you own a Galaxy XR headset. |
| DOF adapter correction | Flips the preview and the capture when the phone is fitted behind an external depth-of-field adapter, in Pro and Pro video. | Only with a DOF adapter rig. |
| Anamorphic lens correction | De-squeezes the preview and video from a clip-on anamorphic lens. SamMobile reported it works in Pro video at 16:9, but not at 8K or 120fps. The Lens squeeze setting offers Off, x1.33, x1.55 and x2.0. | Only with an anamorphic lens fitted. |
| TILTA wireless lens controller | Lets a TILTA controller's physical dial adjust focus and zoom. | On a gimbal or tripod rig with that controller. |
| Audio monitoring | Plays the sound being recorded through Bluetooth, HDMI or USB headphones while you film. | Whenever you record interviews or music. |
Video softening (three levels, from Off to High) is similar to Photo softening, but for videos instead. It was spotted by Android Authority in the app’s codebase ahead of the S26’s release. It’s model-specific: it doesn’t appear on the S25 Ultra, but it does make an appearance in S26 Ultra tutorials. For the other video settings in the Camera app itself, see our video settings guide.
Shutter speed and ISO limits in Photo mode (One UI 8.5 and later)
One of the most practical Camera Assistant changes in One UI 8.5 (version 4.5.00.13, released in December 2025), the app’s biggest update so far, is Advanced Photo mode controls.
You still can’t manually enter a specific shutter speed or ISO value, but you can set the minimum shutter speed and maximum ISO that the camera should use, and it’ll stay within those parameters. White balance and exposure adjustments have also made their way to Photo mode.
Minimum shutter speed is the setting that fixes blurry photos of moving kids and pets. That’s because, when light is scarce, your phone is likely using a shutter speed that’s too slow to capture sharp photos of pets and kids in motion (Android Police noted this shortcoming with Galaxy flagships). Your options include 1/1000, 1/500, 1/120 and 1/30 of a second. SamMobile reported in July 2026 that the One UI 9 version of Camera Assistant would add a 1/60 step, but it wasn't there on a Galaxy S25 Ultra running One UI 9 with Camera Assistant 4.5.00.20 in November 2026. (Faster shutter speeds can result in noisier photos since the ISO level has to increase.)
If things seem darker than they should be in the viewfinder, chances are these limits are the culprits. Samsung’s fix is to head to Camera Assistant > Advanced Photo mode controls and revert Maximum ISO and Minimum shutter speed back to None.
The same Camera Assistant update also tacks on a few other Pro mode features.
- Create Pro mode presets with shutter speed, ISO, exposure value, focus, white balance and even which lens you’re using. You can also create presets from photos in the Gallery app. Our Pro mode presets guide gives starting values for six presets, from night streets to the moon.
- Customisable and optionally always-on focus peaking for the Pro modes: choose the outline thickness and colour.
- Toggle for turning off video and optical image stabilization (don’t bother if you’re shooting hand-held).
The 24MP option on the Galaxy S26
24MP photos in the normal Photo mode (on the Galaxy S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra) require Camera Assistant to be installed, and at first the option was tucked away in Photos, then Advanced resolution options, but as of Camera Assistant version 4.5.00.20 (March 2026) it’s been moved to the main list as 24MP resolution.
- 1
Install or update Camera Assistant
Make sure your phone has version 4.5.00.20 or higher (check Galaxy Store) for the simplified menu.
- 2
Turn on 24MP
Go into Camera Assistant and tap 24MP resolution. Enable 24MP for Photo mode. You can also enable Keep 24MP resolution so that 24MP is always enabled when you open the camera app.
- 3
Pick it in the viewfinder
In Photo mode, tap the resolution button at the top of the screen and select 24MP.
A Samsung community moderator explained that 24MP mode captures 50MP-level detail while using the same multi-frame photo combining (aka AI Fusion) as 12MP mode.
Unlike with 200MP photos, you’ll still have access to your 3x and 5x telephoto lenses when shooting in 24MP mode.
While Samsung didn’t add 24MP photos to Photo mode in One UI 9 for the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S25, you can still shoot 24MP photos with Expert RAW on either phone.
12MP, 24MP, 50MP or 200MP?
| Resolution | Available on | Use it for | Downsides |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12MP (default) | Every recent Galaxy | Everyday shots, low light, moving subjects and every zoom level | The least room to crop |
| 24MP | S26 series in Photo mode via Camera Assistant. S24 and S25 through Expert RAW only | Daylight scenes with texture, like fabric, foliage or brickwork, that you may crop or print | Bigger files than 12MP |
| 50MP | Main camera on recent S-series phones | Bright, static scenes you plan to crop hard | Noisier than 12MP in dim light, and larger files |
| 200MP | Ultra models | Bright, static scenes where you want the biggest possible crop | Main camera only, so no 3x or 5x. Very large files, bright skies can clip, and Samsung says parts of the frame can look soft |
12MP will remain the sensible default for most people as it will utilise more aggressive pixel binning and therefore perform best in low light.
If you have an S26 and shoot predominantly in good light then stepping up to 24MP won’t hurt and will still offer all lens options with not too unwieldy files.
Settings recipes for common situations
Default settings should be used except for those settings indicated in each row.
Within Camera Assistant, change only the setting(s) shown in each row.
For some rows, there is one camera setting (outside of Camera Assistant) that may need to be changed. This is also shown in each row.
| Situation | What to change | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Kids and pets indoors | Quick tap shutter on. Prioritize focus over speed off. Minimum shutter speed 1/500s, or 1/120s in a dim room, with Maximum ISO at None. Stay at 12MP. | Removes the lift-off delay and stops the phone choosing a slow shutter. 12MP keeps noise lowest when ISO climbs. |
| Sport and running dogs outdoors | Quick tap shutter on. Minimum shutter speed 1/1000s. Auto lens switching off if you're shooting at 3x or 5x. | Daylight allows a fast shutter, and the camera stays on your chosen telephoto. |
| Low light, people holding still | Minimum shutter speed and Maximum ISO at None. Auto HDR on. On the S26, set Night to Auto or Max in Photo mode. | Night processing needs a slower shutter and room to merge several frames. |
| Portraits | Prioritize focus over speed on. Auto lens switching off at 3x. Picture softening on High if sharpening looks harsh on skin. | Focus settles on the face before the shot, and you keep the real 3x lens. |
| Landscapes and buildings | Distortion correction on. Picture softening off. 24MP on an S26, or 50MP, in good light. | Straight lines stay straight and fine detail survives. |
| Documents and whiteboards | Distortion correction on. Prioritize focus over speed on. In the regular Camera settings, turn on Scanning under Intelligent features. | The camera shows a scan button when it spots a document. |
| Group photos on a timer | Timer multi-photo options set to 5 or 7 shots with a short interval. | Better odds that nobody blinks. |
| Tripod and long video | Camera timeout at 10 minutes. Dim screen while recording on. Clean preview on HDMI displays if you use a monitor. | The camera stays ready between shots and the battery lasts longer. |
For more information about these subjects, visit our guide pages: photographing pets and photographing children. Portrait mode comes with its own guide.
When to leave Camera Assistant alone
Most of these switches trade one problem for another.
- Minimum shutter speed: Freezes fast-moving objects (say, a running child) at the expense of increased noise.
- Auto HDR – Off may result in an overly bright (‘blown out’) window, for example, but contrast will look more natural.
If you tend to take quick snaps and mostly shoot in reasonable light, the defaults will be fine and it’s only worth changing Quick tap shutter. Two settings deserve caution.
- Optical image stabilization: Off will make shots and videos taken handheld more susceptible to camera shake, and you should only turn it off if you’re using a tripod or gimbal.
- Maximum ISO – Lower values will result in darker images if you’re shooting indoors or at night.
Is Camera Assistant made by Samsung?+
Why can't I find Camera Assistant in my camera settings?+
Does Camera Assistant work on Galaxy A-series phones?+
Why does my camera preview look dark after changing Camera Assistant?+
Can the Galaxy S25 shoot 24MP photos?+
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