The most popular Google Camera port for non-Pixel Android phones. Brings Pixel-grade HDR+, Night Sight, and Astrophotography to Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Realme, POCO, and most Snapdragon and MediaTek devices.
What is LMC 8.4
LMC 8.4 is a community-built port of the Google Camera app that ships on Pixel phones. The developer Hasli maintains it. Here is the catch with the real thing: Google Camera, or GCam, only runs on Pixel hardware. LMC 8.4 lifts the photo-processing engine, along with Night Sight, Astrophotography, and the HDR+ pipeline, then rewires the sensor calls and wraps it all in an APK that installs on most other Android phones. What you get is image quality much closer to a Pixel on a phone whose stock camera app plays it safe.
People with mid-range Snapdragon and MediaTek phones reach for LMC 8.4 the most. Think Redmi, POCO, Realme, and Samsung A-series. They install it to clean up the flat colors and grainy low-light shots their stock camera leaves behind. Astrophotography fans grab it for the long-exposure mode, which no stock OEM camera can match unless you own a flagship Pixel. Both groups dial in the results by editing XML config files.
LMC 8.4 is free. You will not find it on the Play Store, since the engine underneath is repackaged from a proprietary Google app. Instead it spreads through Hasli's release threads and a handful of mirror sites. R18 is the current stable build. Older builds from R13 to R17 are still around for phones where R18 runs into sensor-compatibility trouble.
Key features
App info
- Publisher
- Hasli (community build, not affiliated with Google)
- Package ID
com.camera.lmc84- Version
- 8.4.300.414775575.18.18 (R18)
- Updated
- March 2025
- Size
- ~132 MB
- Android floor
- Android 10 and above recommended; works on Android 8.1+ on most devices
- Architecture
- arm64-v8a, armeabi-v7a (universal APK)
- Permissions
- Camera, microphone, storage, location (optional, for geotag)
- Category
- Photography
What this build offers
The R18 build is the most stable LMC 8.4 release to date. It carries the full Pixel 8 image-processing pipeline and a maintained set of compatibility fixes for non-Pixel sensors.
- Full-height exposure slider in landscape.
Exposure and shadow sliders span the full viewfinder height when the phone is sideways, easier to fine-tune in bright light.
- Improved popup camera-modes menu.
The mode switcher (Photo, Portrait, Night Sight, Astro, Slow-motion) renders faster and stays readable on small viewfinders.
- Vibration feedback on key controls.
Subtle haptic cue on shutter, mode switch, and focus lock. Confirms input without taking eyes off the frame.
- Better AUX lens default detection.
Auto-picks the right secondary sensor (ultra-wide, telephoto, macro) on multi-camera phones without manual config edits.
- Updated black theme and UI fixes.
OLED-friendly dark theme across menus and gallery preview, plus stability fixes from R17 reports.
- Compatibility with older config files.
XML configs written for R13 through R17 still load cleanly on R18.
How to install
LMC 8.4 is not on the Play Store, so installation goes through the standard Android sideload flow. The first time takes about two minutes; updates are faster.
- Download the APK file
Tap the download button on this page. The 132 MB file lands in your default Downloads folder.
- Allow installs from this source
Open Settings, search for
Install unknown apps, find your file manager or browser, and toggle the permission on. - Open the downloaded APK
Tap the file in your Downloads folder. Android opens the package installer.
- Tap Install
Confirm and wait for the install to finish, then tap Open to launch LMC 8.4.
- Grant camera and storage access
Allow Camera, Microphone, and Storage on the first-run prompts. Location is optional, only needed for geotag.
- Load a config file for your phone
Optional but recommended. Drop your phone-specific XML into
/Internal Storage/GCam/Configs/, long-press the empty space next to the shutter, and pick it from the list.
What is new in R18
- Pixel 8 image-processing engine (build 8.4.300.414775575.18).
- Full-height exposure and shadow sliders in landscape.
- Rebuilt popup mode switcher with faster render.
- Haptic feedback on shutter, mode change, and focus lock.
- Improved auxiliary-lens auto-detection on multi-camera phones.
- OLED-friendly dark theme refinements and crash fixes.
- Backward compatibility with R13-R17 config files.
Related camera and photo apps
FAQ
- Is LMC 8.4 on the Google Play Store?
- No. LMC 8.4 is a community-built port of the official Google Camera app, and it has never been distributed through the Play Store. Installation is sideload-only through the APK on this page. The official Google Camera app from Google ships exclusively on Pixel hardware.
- Will LMC 8.4 work on my phone?
- It runs on most recent Snapdragon and MediaTek phones, including Xiaomi, Redmi, POCO, Realme, OnePlus, Samsung A-series, and Motorola models from the last four years. Whether it gives Pixel-grade results depends on whether a phone-specific XML config exists for your model. Search a community config thread for your phone before you commit.
- What is a GCam config file and do I need one?
- A config file is an XML preset that tells LMC 8.4 how to address your phone's sensors and what white-balance, HDR strength, and noise-reduction parameters to use. Without one, LMC 8.4 falls back to generic defaults. With a phone-specific config, output quality steps up noticeably. Configs are free and shared on community threads.
- Does LMC 8.4 need root?
- No. The app installs and runs without root. You only need Camera2 API enabled on your phone, which most recent Android phones have on by default.
- How big is the LMC 8.4 R18 download?
- The LMC 8.4 R18 APK is approximately 132 MB. Allow extra space for photos, RAW DNG files, and Night Sight or Astrophotography frame stacks.
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