Every manufacturer has a different way of doing things when it comes to quickly launching the camera on our smartphones so that we never miss this opportune moment. Well, most of them at least. The LG G3 has a quick launch shortcut for the camera you’ll want to know about.
Like the original LG G2, the new LG G3 has a triple button on the back rather than the sides. On the back, below the camera, is a dedicated power and wake button combined with volume up and down buttons. At launch, we learned that it can be customized with shortcuts, but not in the way you might expect.
The LG G3 has many great features built into the software. These are end-user replaceable and customizable options that many other manufacturers do not offer. Both volume up and down can be used to instantly launch apps even when the screen is off and locked, and we have more details below.
Initially I was hoping this would be a how-to that would show impressive LG G3 owners how to change their volume up/down button shortcuts to turn on anything they want, but unfortunately that’s not the case. LG was good enough to add shortcuts, but they are not customizable, at least not yet.
After enabling the button shortcut feature, long press the volume down button with your LG G3 screen off and it will instantly launch the camera app. This way you never miss a quick photo of your friends, family or kids. It’s a neat feature and here’s how to enable it.
Instructions
Most likely these shortcut features are enabled by default, but if not, they’re just a few taps away in the settings and you’ll be up and running in no time.
Go to settings by pulling down the notification bar and tapping the gear-shaped settings button in the top right. From here, the last column titled “general” is where you go. Scroll down to “Hotkey” and click there. If they are turned off, simply flip the switch from “off” to “on” and you’re done.
Owners can now lock the device and then press and hold one of the buttons on the back. The volume down button starts the camera. This is great for taking a quick shot without worrying about unlocking your device or if all you need on the phone is the camera. Volume up button launches QuickMemo+ Note-taking app on LG G3.
This works as long as the screen is off or the screen is locked. It’s just a long press away and those shortcuts fire up. But there is a small problem with this, they cannot be customized.
This is a great idea and feature integrated by LG, but they haven’t taken it one step further and made it customizable like almost every aspect of the device. The LG G3 allows users to change the home screen, rearrange the icons on the lock screen, change the background color of the on-screen navigation keys and even the soft keys or add buttons to them. There are tons of options and customizations, but not here.
Hopefully in the very near future LG will release an update that will allow us to customize these keys, because that would be great. The quick shortcut to the camera is worth keeping, but we’d love to replace the other with Google Assistant voice search, Google Music, or any of the other great apps available on Android.
All we have is an on and off button. What a missed opportunity!