Recording video at 120FPS using a third-party app seems not possible on Samsung S series

Question

I am developing an app which requires video recording at 120FPS. I managed to get it working on a Pixel 4a/6a but the app crashes on my Samsung s20+. I saw in the Android Studio log console that 1080p at 120FPS is supported but still the app crashes. There are no errors which tell me what the issue it.

I read somewhere on the Samsung developer forum that Samsung does not allow third-party apps to access the camera for recording at 60FPS/120FPS (https://forum.developer.samsung.com/t/high-speed-video-recording-issue-on-samsung-s23-series/25983/4). Has anyone faced this issue and is it true that only native Samsung camera can access 60FPS/120FPS? And is this also an issue for other Android phones (except for Pixels, my app works on them)?

Any suggestions and help is highly appreciated since I am stuck with this issue for a while now and might have to remove Samsung from installation of our app. Thanks for your time and attention.

Answer 1

You probably won't get a better statement than the one found in your link from a Samsung Developer Account on a Samsung Developer Forum.

60 or higher FPS recording is not supported on Samsung devices officially due to the thermal protection and power consumption.

Hence, Galaxy series devices expose FPS range only up to 30 via CameraCharacteristics#CONTROL_AE_AVAILABLE_TARGET_FPS_RANGES. Also currently there is no plan to support it via Camera2 API.

From your description, I gather that this might be causing the error.

Samsung Developer Relations

While you may doubt the rational of the answer, realize that device manufacturers only have to comply with the Android Compatibility Definition Document for the version of Android a particular device is released with in order to get the Google Play Store/Services. So a phone which was released with Android 12 only has to comply with the Android 12 Compatibility Definition Document (CDD).

Given that Android devices vary in performance, Google has started to provide a Performance Class to inform developers of the hardware capabilities available.

The 'good news' for future devices is that within Android 13 CDD and later there is an entry regarding high frame rate video recording with the 2.2.7.2. Camera section of the document:

If Handheld device implementations return android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.T for android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.MEDIA_PERFORMANCE_CLASS, then they:

[7.5/H-1-9] MUST have a rear-facing primary camera supporting 720p or 1080p @ 240fps.

I am not aware of a such requirement in lower versions of the CDD which means that such behavior is optional at the choice of the manufacturer. Do note that camera issues are not uncommon as reported on the Open Camera app Device Compatibility page.