These are the following two ways, in which you can use camera in your application

• Using existing android camera application in our application

• Directly using Camera API provided by android in our application

Using existing android camera application in our application

You will use MediaStore.ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE to launch an existing camera application installed on your phone. Its syntax is given below

Intent intent = new Intent(android.provider.MediaStore.ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE);

Apart from the above, there are other available Intents provided by MediaStore. They are listed as follows

Now you will use the function startActivityForResult() to launch this activity and wait for its result. Its syntax is given below

startActivityForResult(intent,0)

This method has been defined in the activity class. We are calling it from main activity. There are methods defined in the activity class that does the same job , but used when you are not calling from the activity but from somewhere else. They are listed below

No matter which function you used to launch the activity , they all return the result. The result can be obtained by overriding the function onActivityResult.

Example

Here is an example that shows how to launch the existing camera application to capture an image and display the result in the form of bitmap.

To experiment with this example , you need to run this on an actual device on which camera is supported.

Following is the content of the modified main activity file src/MainActivity.java.

package com.example.sairamkrishna.myapplication;

import android.Manifest;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.app.AlertDialog;

import android.content.Context;
import android.content.DialogInterface;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.SharedPreferences;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;

import android.net.Uri;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.provider.Settings;

import android.support.v4.app.ActivityCompat;
import android.support.v4.content.ContextCompat;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
   public static final int MY_PERMISSIONS_REQUEST_CAMERA = 100;
   public static final String ALLOW_KEY = "ALLOWED";
   public static final String CAMERA_PREF = "camera_pref";

   @Override
   protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
      super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
      setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

      if (ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.CAMERA) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
         if (getFromPref(this, ALLOW_KEY)) {
            showSettingsAlert();
         } else if (ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(this,
            Manifest.permission.CAMERA)
            
            != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
               
               // Should we show an explanation?
               if (ActivityCompat.shouldShowRequestPermissionRationale(this,
                  Manifest.permission.CAMERA)) {
                  showAlert();
               } else {
                  // No explanation needed, we can request the permission.
                  ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(this,
                     new String[]{Manifest.permission.CAMERA},
                     MY_PERMISSIONS_REQUEST_CAMERA);
               }
            }
      } else {
         openCamera();
      }
      
   }
   public static void saveToPreferences(Context context, String key, Boolean allowed) {
      SharedPreferences myPrefs = context.getSharedPreferences(CAMERA_PREF, 
         Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
      SharedPreferences.Editor prefsEditor = myPrefs.edit();
      prefsEditor.putBoolean(key, allowed);
      prefsEditor.commit();
   }
		
   public static Boolean getFromPref(Context context, String key) {
      SharedPreferences myPrefs = context.getSharedPreferences(CAMERA_PREF, 
         Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
      return (myPrefs.getBoolean(key, false));
   }
		
   private void showAlert() {
      AlertDialog alertDialog = new AlertDialog.Builder(MainActivity.this).create();
      alertDialog.setTitle("Alert");
      alertDialog.setMessage("App needs to access the Camera.");
      
      alertDialog.setButton(AlertDialog.BUTTON_NEGATIVE, "DONT ALLOW",
         new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
            public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
               dialog.dismiss();
               finish();
            }
      });
			
      alertDialog.setButton(AlertDialog.BUTTON_POSITIVE, "ALLOW",
         new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
         
            public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
               dialog.dismiss();
               ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(MainActivity.this,
               new String[]{Manifest.permission.CAMERA},
               MY_PERMISSIONS_REQUEST_CAMERA);
            }
      });
      alertDialog.show();
   }
		
   private void showSettingsAlert() {
      AlertDialog alertDialog = new AlertDialog.Builder(MainActivity.this).create();
      alertDialog.setTitle("Alert");
      alertDialog.setMessage("App needs to access the Camera.");
      
      alertDialog.setButton(AlertDialog.BUTTON_NEGATIVE, "DONT ALLOW",
         new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
         
            public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
               dialog.dismiss();
               //finish();
            }
      });
			
      alertDialog.setButton(AlertDialog.BUTTON_POSITIVE, "SETTINGS",
         new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
                    
            public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
               dialog.dismiss();
               startInstalledAppDetailsActivity(MainActivity.this);
            }
      });
			
      alertDialog.show();
   }
		
   @Override
   public void onRequestPermissionsResult(int requestCode, String permissions[], int[] grantResults) {
      switch (requestCode) {
         case MY_PERMISSIONS_REQUEST_CAMERA: {
            for (int i = 0, len = permissions.length; i < len; i++) {
               String permission = permissions[i];
            
               if (grantResults[i] == PackageManager.PERMISSION_DENIED) {
                  boolean 
                  showRationale = 
                     ActivityCompat.shouldShowRequestPermissionRationale(
                     this, permission);
                  
                  if (showRationale) {
                     showAlert();
                  } else if (!showRationale) {
                     // user denied flagging NEVER ASK AGAIN
                     // you can either enable some fall back,
                     // disable features of your app
                     // or open another dialog explaining
                     // again the permission and directing to
                     // the app setting
                     saveToPreferences(MainActivity.this, ALLOW_KEY, true);
                  }
               }
            }
         }
         
         // other ''case'' lines to check for other
         // permissions this app might request
      }
   }
		
   @Override
   protected void onResume() {
      super.onResume();
   }
		
   public static void startInstalledAppDetailsActivity(final Activity context) {
      if (context == null) {
         return;
      }
			
      final Intent i = new Intent();
      i.setAction(Settings.ACTION_APPLICATION_DETAILS_SETTINGS);
      i.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_DEFAULT);
      i.setData(Uri.parse("package:" + context.getPackageName()));
      i.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
      i.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NO_HISTORY);
      i.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_EXCLUDE_FROM_RECENTS);
      context.startActivity(i);
   }
		
   private void openCamera() {
      Intent intent = new Intent("android.media.action.IMAGE_CAPTURE");
      startActivity(intent);
   }
}

Following will be the content of res/layout/activity_main.xml file−

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
      android:layout_width="match_parent"
   android:layout_height="match_parent" 
   android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
   android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
   android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
   android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin" tools:context=".MainActivity">
</RelativeLayout>

Following will be the content of res/values/strings.xml to define one new constants

<resources>
   <string name="app_name">My Application</string>
</resources>

Following is the default content of AndroidManifest.xml −

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   package="com.example.sairamkrishna.myapplication" >
  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
   <application
      android:allowBackup="true"
      android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
      android:label="@string/app_name"
      android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >
      
      <activity
         android:name="com.example.sairamkrishna.myapplication.MainActivity"
         android:label="@string/app_name" >
         
         <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
            <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
         </intent-filter>
         
     </activity>
     
   </application>
</manifest>

Let”s try to run your application. I assume you have connected your actual Android Mobile device with your computer. To run the app from android studio, open one of your project”s activity files and click Run icon from the tool bar. Before starting your application, Android studio will display following window to select an option where you want to run your Android application.

Select your mobile device as an option and then check your mobile device which will open the camera and display following screen −