How to Enable Camera2 API on all Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones (MIUI 10 / MIUI 11) without root

The Google Pixel lineup of smartphones have always being known to have arguably the best camera on any modern day smartphone. The great image quality produced by the Pixel phones is mostly due to the camera app which is known as Google Camera or GCam.

GCam is the stock camera App of the Google Pixel smartphones. It uses Google's advance Algorithm to produce high quality images. It is also packed with some other features like HDR+ mode, Portrait mode, Slow motion mode, Lens Blur mode, Motion photos, and also Night Sight mode.  

Even though the GCam App is only for Pixel phones, a couple of developers like BSG, Parrot043, Arnova8G2, and many others have managed to port the App for other devices. In other to properly take advantage of the GCam App though, your phone must have camera2 API enabled.

A couple of modern smartphones already have the camera2 API enabled by default, but there are some older mid-range Xiaomi smartphones that have it disabled out of the box, and this include phones like the Redmi Note 5 / Pro, Mi Max 2, Mi Max 3, Mi A1, Mi A2, Redmi Note 6 Pro and many others.

In this post, I will be showing you guys a detailed guide on how to enable the Camera2 API on all Xiaomi smartphones. This method will work on both MIUI 10 and MIUI 11.

Note: XiaomiAuthority will not be held responsible for any damage done to your phone. Proceed with caution and make sure you follow the instructions below diligently.

Requirements:

• Unlocked Bootloader: Click HERE for guide.
• Twrp recovery: Check installation guide HERE.
• OrangeFox Recovery: Download HERE.
• HAL3_Camera2api_MIUI_10-11: Download HERE.
• Camera2 API Probe App: Download HERE.

How to Enable Camera2 API on all Xiaomi Phones:

• Make sure your bootloader is unlocked and Twrp recovery is installed (Check out guide above).
• Download the OrangeFox recovery for your device from the link above and copy to your phone internal storage.
• Download the Camera2 API enabler and also copy it to your phone's internal storage.
• Reboot to recovery.
• From the recovery menu, tap install and select the OrangeFox file you downloaded earlier.
• After installation, your phone will reboot into OrangeFox recovery.
• Go ahead and install the HAL3_Camera2api_MIUI_10-11.zip file.
• That is it, boot to system

How to confirm if Camera2 API is enabled

• Download Camera2 API Probe App from this link.
• launch the App.
• Under Hardware Level Support Category, the level_3 should be green

That is all guys. If you have any question to ask kindly drop it in the comment section below.