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How can I take photo when battery level is less than 20%? My Samsung Galaxy S always says "battery low" and then closes the camera application when I try to. Is there a way to get around this? Or is 19% not powerful enough to take a photograph (my camera has no flash).

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I would not recommended doing so regularly, regularly discharging a battery to less than 20% will shorten the battery's life. – Lie Ryan Dec 23 '10 at 14:37
off topic: really? why? What I heard was discharging the battery to lowest possible before charging it helped prolong battery life. – Fitri Dec 23 '10 at 15:17
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That was only applicable to older chemistries such as NiCad, because they developed a "memory" of the discharge depth - repeatedly recharging before full discharge would decrease the storage capacity. Modern lithium ion cells do not have this memory affect. They loose capacity based on age, temperature (excessive heat impacts life) and time spent at very low charge levels. – Saiboogu Dec 23 '10 at 15:23
@Fitri: just like Saiboogu said, having a low charge level is bad for modern Lithium batteries. – Lie Ryan Dec 23 '10 at 15:40
ok thanks guys, I wrote another question here in order to ask more information :) – Fitri Dec 23 '10 at 15:51
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3 Answers

up vote 7 down vote accepted

Try downloading and using a third-camera app from the market. The restriction is apparently on the stock camera app, not on the hardware (the camera itself). I downloaded Retro Camera, and it is able to take a picture when my Galaxy S is on low battery. That might not be the app you want, so do a search on the market with the keyword "Camera".

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+1 but Retro Camera takes "gimmicky" stylized pictures, if you want something that'll take a more normal picture and has similar options to a normal compact, digital camera, try something like Camera 360 appbrain.com/app/camera-360/vStudio.Android.GPhoto – GAThrawn Jan 4 '11 at 15:27
up vote 6 down vote

This is, unfortunately, not adjustable in the stock version of Android. If you root there are 3rd party versions that modify this low battery level.

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up vote 1 down vote

I think I've found a solution. It's pretty simple - just try to hold the Menu button. The info about battery disappears and allows you to use the camera.

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