The Samsung Galaxy S9’s camera got a major update in March when it received many of the features found in the S10’s camera. The Korean firm rolled out another major update in April, but it was primarily a security update with no new features. However, many users started reporting issues with the Galaxy S9’s front camera after the update.
Issues with Galaxy S9’s front camera after April update
Since the April update, many Galaxy S9 and S9+ users have taken to Samsung’s product forums and social platforms to complain about camera issues. Users say they are seeing strange problems ranging from awkwardly cropped photos to seeing two shutter buttons, according to tech site PiunikaWeb.
“I got issue with selfie camera that now has two button[s] for single selfie and wide selfie. The wide selfie button [is] working fine but the single selfie cropped my photo after shot,” one affected user said.
“…my selfie camera crops everything. There’s a hovering square around my face, and all attempts seem to focus on my neck,” another user said.
Some users also report that their camera settings list a 5.2mp option other than the 8mp setting.
“I checked the settings and now no longer have the 4:3 8mp option. It is now only 5.2 with no option for the 8mp it is supposed to go up to,” the user said.
Affected users claim they have tried every camera setting but have been unable to address the issues with the Galaxy S9’s front camera. PiunikaWeb adds that third-party camera apps such as Google Camera are taking accurate pictures. This suggests the issue might be with the Samsung Camera app.
A Samsung moderator has admitted the issue and suggeste a workaround while they communicate the issue “to our specialists.” The moderator suggests trying different camera modes until the issue is resolved permanently.
To find the camera modes, open the camera and then tap on the settings icon in the upper-left corner of the screen, so if you are facing similar issues with the Galaxy S9’s front camera, you should try this and wait for the permanent fix.
Other issues with the Galaxy S9’s camera
This is not the first time Galaxy S9 and S9+ users have faced issues with the front camera. Last year, many users complained they were seeing nothing in the camera view when they switched from the rear camera to the front camera. Samsung probably fixed the issue because there were no further complaints about it.
One other issue affected Galaxy S9 users, but it was with the display. In April 2018, there were reports that the Galaxy S9 was affected by black crush and gradient banding issues. This problem, also referred to as a black color blending issue or pixelated screen, was related to how dark colors appeared on the screen. The phones affected by this problem enhanced the blacks in videos, thereby depleting the quality of dark videos.
This wasn’t a new issue, and many wouldn’t even consider it to be a real problem. Previously the issue was mainly tied to OLED panels, but the existence of the issue on the S9 proved that AMOLED panels are no different. Samsung fixed the S9 Plus black crush and gradient banding issues with a software update at the end of May.
How to fix the “camera failed” error
One common camera issue many Galaxy S9 users have come across is a message saying the camera has failed. Users encounter such an issue after they launch their phone’s Camera app. It is not a major issue and can be easily fixed. There are a couple of tricks to address this issue.
The first trick is to the restart Camera app and your phone. To restart the app, tap the “Recent apps” key in the bottom-left corner of your phone. You will now see a screen listing all your recently opened apps. Look for the camera app and then swipe to the right or close it. After Closing the camera app, relaunch it. Hopefully it will open now. If it does not, then try restarting the phone.
If restarting the phone doesn’t work, then you can try booting into safe mode. Sometimes third-party apps can affect other apps. To see if this is happening, boot your phone in safe mode and then try the Camera app.
If the camera works perfectly in safe mode, it means a third-party app is causing the issue. You should now try to think about which app you installed right before you started having the problem with the the camera. If you figure it out, uninstall the app immediately. If you are not sure which app it is, then try uninstalling the last few apps you downloaded. This should address the issue.
