What Camera Assistant Is and Why One UI 8.5 Matters
Camera Assistant is a Samsung add-on app that gives Galaxy users deeper control over the built-in camera, adding advanced options for autofocus, image processing, HDR, and lens behavior to fine-tune photos and videos beyond the default settings of the stock Camera app. With the rollout of One UI 8.5 camera updates, Samsung is expanding this tool from a niche utility for power users into a central part of its Samsung AI photography strategy, bringing more granular computational photography controls to a broader audience. Instead of hiding key Galaxy camera features behind developer menus, Camera Assistant exposes them in a friendly interface, allowing users to decide how aggressively the phone switches lenses, how soft or detailed images should look, and whether speed or precision should guide every shot. One UI 8.5 marks a shift from fixed presets toward a more configurable Galaxy camera experience.
New Galaxy Phones and Tablets Gaining Camera Assistant
Samsung is significantly widening Camera Assistant Galaxy support alongside One UI 8.5. According to SamMobile, the app will soon support 19 additional Galaxy devices, spanning mid-range phones and premium tablets. On the smartphone side, Camera Assistant is coming to the Galaxy A34, A35, A36 and their M-series counterparts, the Galaxy M34, M35, and M36. On tablets, the expansion is even larger, covering the Galaxy Tab S8, S8+, S8 Ultra, Tab S9, S9+, S9 Ultra, and the value-focused Galaxy Tab S9 FE and S9 FE+. The latest Galaxy Tab S10 family also joins the list, including the Tab S10, S10+, S10 Ultra, and the Tab S10 FE and S10 FE+. This expansion means many users who were previously limited to default One UI camera settings now gain access to richer One UI 8.5 camera customization without changing hardware.
Key Galaxy Camera Features and AI Controls in Camera Assistant
Camera Assistant serves as a control center for Galaxy camera features that sit on top of Samsung AI photography and computational processing. Users can enable or disable automatic lens switching, which is helpful when deciding whether the camera should jump between wide, ultra-wide, or telephoto lenses during zooming. There are sliders for picture softening, giving users more say over how sharp or processed their images appear. The app adds extra zoom shortcuts in the viewfinder and allows users to prioritize focus accuracy over capture speed, useful for tricky low-light or moving subjects. It also exposes detailed autofocus controls, letting users tweak AF speed and sensitivity for both photos and videos. Other toggles include Auto HDR, video softening, HDR10+ video recording, and adjustments to how many shots are captured when using the timer. Together, these options make One UI 8.5 camera behavior far more configurable than standard point-and-shoot defaults.
How Samsung’s Strategy Compares to Google and Apple
Samsung’s approach with Camera Assistant Galaxy differs from competitors like Google and Apple, which often hide most computational photography decisions from users. Google’s Pixel line emphasizes fully automated AI camera pipelines, while Apple leans on consistent, predictable results with limited manual tuning. Samsung, by contrast, offers similar AI-driven imaging but now adds a layer of user control through Camera Assistant, giving enthusiasts more say in how the processing behaves. This aligns Samsung AI photography with a hybrid strategy: automatic scene optimization for casual shooters, plus fine-grained toggles for those who care about autofocus behavior, HDR style, or lens switching logic. By extending Camera Assistant to mid-range A and M series phones and a wide range of Tab S devices, Samsung shifts from reserving advanced tools for flagships to making them part of its wider ecosystem, positioning its One UI 8.5 camera stack as both flexible and user-tunable.