According to a number of reports from Galaxy S10 owners, the premium handset front camera can only be used in cropped mode, rather than a full field of view that lens is capable of when using a third-party camera app. Apparently, the same behavior can be found in the other handsets of Galaxy S10-series.
The Galaxy S10 is equipped with a wide-angle lens for the front camera on all three devices. However, the main camera app always opens in a cropped mode of 6MP that offers a field of view that is similar to what you have on selfie cameras by other manufacturers. As an optional extra feature, the users can opt for using the camera in the full field of view that is offered by the 10MP sensor.
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Apparently, Samsung provided an API that allows third-party apps such as social networks and video calling apps only to use cropped mode of the front camera. It’s a strange limitation that undoubtedly cuts the usability of such an expensive handset. We can’t say for sure why Samsung has made such a thing, but we’ve already seen many smartphones with dual front cameras allowing only one to be used in third-party cameras. So perhaps it’s an inherent limitation of Android more than anything else, and Samsung along with other companies isn’t interested in providing a workaround for the millions of camera apps across the OS.
If this is indeed the case, don’t hold your breath for an OTA update that will fix the issue. For now, users will have to rely on a workaround that consists of shooting a picture first with the main Camera app and then import it or share into your app of choice from the gallery.
