Android's camera API 2 in Kitkat

Question

I'm trying to get the camera api2 working on Android 4.4.2 based on the following slides. http://www.slideshare.net/lbk003/an-devcon2013-camera3kaurfinal

However, the function getCameraIdList() returns an empty array with 'no devices; exception. I tried this on my google glass running Android 4.4.2 and also on an emulation of a nexus 5 running Android 4.4.2 with camera emulation enabled. Both gave the same error. Google glass camera api1 gives me access to the camera.

mCameraManager = (CameraManager) ctx.getSystemService("camera");
try {
String[] devices = mCameraManager.getCameraIdList();
if (devices == null || devices.length == 0) {
throw new ApiFailureException("no devices");
}

I also have the following two lines in the manifest file.

uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA"

uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera"

Has anyone been successful in using the hidden camera api2 in Android 4.4.2?

Answer 1

Android 4.4.2 does not support the new camera2 API; it's only officially available on the L developer preview or later, and then only on real Nexus 5 hardware, not the emulator.

While an in-progress API is included in the source code of Android 4.4.2, it's not functional in general, and we don't recommend trying to use it, since it differs in various ways from the final API in the L preview.