Analog Photography Assistant - 1.1.0

Analog Photography Assistant (APA) is a free, ad-free, privacy-first android app for film photographers. APA v1.1.0 is the first post-launch release and focuses on UX improvements and bug fixes. I got a lot of feedback from the folks in the 35mmc community ranging from requests to add additional f-stops and ISO values to the light meter, through to reports that in the northern hemisphere the compass displayed bearings that were inaccurate by 180 degrees. Whoops.

v1.1.0 brings a re-written Compass Screen. Magnetic north can be calculated solely by data from the phone’s magnetometer. When GPS is disabled on the phone (by default, for privacy), the Compass will report magnetic north. Perhaps useful for some cases, but largely unhelpful for gathering your bearings. In order to determine true north, the app must calculate the magnetic declination – the angle between true north and magnetic north, which is relative to your location. When you enable location services/GPS on your phone the Compass will report true north.

This version also includes various improvements to the UX, reports additional f/32, f/45, and f/64 aperture values on the light meter, and adds shortcuts for capturing camera settings and sharing Notes. Full changelog below.

For those not wanting to download Analog Photography Assistant on the Play Store, you can directly download and install an APA-v1_1_0.apk to your phone.

I’ve been working pretty hard on this app since the start of the year so I’m going to take a break for a few weeks. APA users have requested a bunch of features which sound fit for future versions including a focal length framing preview screen (a rangefinder view one can use before switching prime lenses), an exposure histogram on the light meter and black and white preview screens, and more advanced notes functionality including maps, snapshots, and numbered film exposures.

2025-07-13

Compass Screen

• Added display of true north when GPS is enabled (previously only displayed magnetic north)
• Fixed incorrect reading in northern hemispheres

Notes Screen

• Added shortcut to capture camera settings (iso, shutter speed, aperture)
• Added shortcut to delete all notes
• Added shortcut to share/email notes

B+W Preview Screen

• Standardised zoom range functionality with Light Meter Screen
• Added two-tone text to the zoom controls so it remains visible over the camera preview background

Light Meter Screen

• When metering a scene, calculate exposures for f/32, f/45, and f/64
• Added ISO options to round out common film ISOs: 125, 160, 250, and 500
• Added two-tone text to the zoom controls so it remains visible over the camera preview background

• UI tests for screen crashing
• Refactor and unit tests for the Compass

• androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime-ktx 2.9.0 -> 2.9.1
• androidx.compose:compose-bom 2025.05.01 -> 2025.06.01
• androidx.navigation:navigation-compose 2.9.0 -> 2.9.1
• io.mockk:mockk:1.13.8 1.13.8 -> 1.14.3
• androidx.navigation:navigation-testing:2.9.0 2.9.0 -> 2.9.1

Download APA on the Play Store or read more on analogphotographyassistant.com