Phone camera sensor stopped working.

[JohnathanFishler98]

Alright I've searched the whole internet for an answer and I couldn't find one, so I thought I'll post it here. I recently got a new phone (Galaxy S22 ultra) and it worked just fine until I dropped it. It somehow lost the connection to one of its camera sensors (wide angle), and my guess is that it's a hardware issue, I don't have the money nor the time or the need really to fix it, and I prefer just leaving it as is.

The problem is, that when a third party app tries to open the camera (WhatsApp, telegram etc....) It crashes, simple as that. I don't even get the ability to tell it to use a different sensor EVEN THO THE WIDE ANGLE ISN'T USED IN MOST PHOTOS???? This is becoming a real issue since I can't pay for public transport or things thru QR codes anymore since all the third party apps want access to all cameras.

Possible solution: disabling the lost sensor through software so that apps are forced to use the others, how could I do this? Do I need to root my phone?

Tldr: phone camera sensor lost touch, third party apps refuse to take pictures/open camera without it even tho they don't use it

 

[ocnbrze]

well you can either get it fixed or deal with the issue. there is nothing software wise that will fix the issue. apps that need the camera will crash there is no way to prevent it, since you have a hardware issue. there is no software that will fix your issue. you can try and learn android code and maybe write something, but there is nothing out there that bi know of that will target your camera sensors and where you can tell it to stop using the sensor.

so again learn to deal with it, get it fixed, or get a new phone.....or used phone.

edit: if you are feeling dyi, ifixit has some parts (unfortunately no camera parts) and some guides, you might be able to at least open it up and maybe be able to fix it yourself.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

Repair and disassembly information for Samsung's S22 Ultra smartphone, released in February 2022.

www.ifixit.com

 

[Hadron]

Yeah, I think repair is your only option. I'm guessing from the time you are posting at and your spelling of "through" that you are probably in North America, so rooting the s22 is going to be tough (much easier in other parts of the world). But what you are asking is how to hack the operating system so that the system only checks the status of some of the cameras and responds as if there is no wide-angle camera present: that will require root and a deep knowledge of the phone's software, and it's not something you'll find off-the-shelf at XDA because patches to cripple the camera are rather a niche need. I'd not be surprised if it required mods to some software that's only loaded in binary form. Or you can decompile your apps, learn how to modify them to only check for one camera (if the API allows this), rebuild them, replace them and hope they still work. Either way unless you are very knowledgeable and have a lot of time on your hands this isn't going to be an option for you.

 

[Dannydet]

I assume you have no warranty?
Have you tried disabling the camera app altogether and seeing what happens?
Other than that, yeah it's a hardware issue that needs to be fixed, as stated.