Moto Camera 3

What Moto Camera 3 is for

Moto Camera 3 is the camera app for Motorola phones, aimed at people who take a lot of photos and video and want a quick start plus some manual control when they need it. The developer describes the layout as built for one-handed use. Most of the features below are ordinary shooting tools with a few effects and manual settings added on top.

Shots go straight into Google Photos, and several of the editing options depend on it. Without a Google Photos library, the blur and black-and-white adjustments described below would not be available.

Opening the camera fast and switching lenses

Quick Capture opens the camera with a twist of the wrist, so the app can be ready without finding an icon on the home screen. A second twist switches between the front and rear cameras. This is meant for catching a moment that is already happening.

Portrait blur and Spot Color effects

Portrait mode blurs the background behind a subject. The developer lists the blur strength as adjustable and says it can be changed, along with a black-and-white conversion, inside Google Photos after the shot is taken.

Spot Color works differently. You choose one color to keep in the frame, and everything else in the image is shown in black and white. It is a single-step effect applied to the picture as you shoot.

Manual control with Pro mode

Pro mode gives direct control over focus, white balance, shutter speed, ISO and exposure. Each of these is a setting you would normally leave on automatic. Pro mode is the part of the app for people who want to set the exposure themselves, such as for long exposures or low light.

Google Lens and Google Photos connections

Google Lens is built in and can search for whatever is in the camera view. It can also scan text and translate it. The developer describes these as ways to interact with what you are looking at, so it works as a look-up tool as well as a camera.

Tapping the thumbnail sends a shot to Google Photos, where it can be shared, edited and backed up. The developer lists backup as part of this flow, so photos taken in the app are also stored in the same library.