It’s great to see the iconic Nokia brand back in the game with a real flagship device: the Nokia 8. This premium phone boasts Zeiss Optics with a dual-camera setup, top-of-the-class Snapdragon 835 and a new “bothie” mode.
I’ve spent the past week with the Nokia 8, and I’ve come to appreciate its build quality and design, snappy performance; and the “bothie” mode for both photos and videos is fun.
The 13MP f/2.0 colour + 13MP f/2.0 monochrome cameras have PDAF, complete with two-tone LED flash. The front on the other hand, is also a 13MP f/2.0 unit but with a screen flash.
The cool thing about the Nokia 8 is its ability to use both front and rear cameras simultaneously. The unique “bothie” feature should sit well with bloggers, content creators and journalists. The split-screen effect is supported on Facebook Live, YouTube Live as well as Snapchat. Nokia said it’s working with Instagram to get bothie to Instagram Stories.
That aside, the two-camera setup on the rear enables “live bokeh” mode. It blurs the background while keeping the focus subject sharp. The degree of bokeh can be controlled.
On the software side of things, the Nokia 8 features a rather basic stock-ish camera app. It’s usable, but if you’re expecting richer features ala Lumia, you’re going to be disappointed.
Also, because the Nokia 8 runs stock Android, it uses the Google Photos app and doesn’t have a separate gallery app.
Frozen
Hence, I stumbled upon a bug. I noticed that my camera app has been freezing constantly after I take a photo. And apparently, I’m not the only one who has been experiencing this issue. My colleague was also reporting freeze issues with the camera.
After days of tolerating multiple freezes, I decided to reset camera settings, and take a peek at Google Photos settings.
I suspected there was a sync bug of sorts, and perhaps due to poor connectivity, and it was causing the camera app to freeze. This reminded me of a similar problem with my old Nexus and Nexus S.
The fix
Time needed: 2 minutes
So, if you’re experiencing camera app freezes like me, here’s what you can do:
- Go to Google Photos > Settings > Google apps
>
- Turn off “Show Google Drive photos & videos in your Photos library
>
That’s basically it. Until there’s a fix for the camera freeze bug, this seems to have solved the problem for me. I haven’t had a freeze since. My colleague has also reported that everything is dandy with the camera now.
Nokia 8 users, are you experiencing the same issue? On that note, any other bugs you’ve stumbled upon with the Nokia 8?
Want more Nokia news? Read these:
- Nokia’s real comeback begins with the Nokia 8
- Nokia 8 flagship launch slated for 16 August
- Nokia is back in the smartphone race with Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3
- Here’s another reason to love the Nokia 6, 5 and 3: Android O
- Nokia 3310: The price of nostalgia is MYR189
- Nokia 3310 banned and useless in Singapore
