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Testing Halation

A guide for closed-beta testers. Feel free to skim; the structure is here for people who prefer a script over free play.

What's shipping right now (Tier 1)

Halation is a three-tier product. The current build covers Tier 1: everything a modern camera app needs for auto capture. Missing something? It might be intentional.

Available

• Photo and Video modes, front and back cameras
• Manual aspect ratio, grid overlays, self-timer with a film-leader countdown
• Live luminance histogram and overexposure zebras
• Burst mode via long-press on the shutter
• Time-lapse (JPEG frames plus optional MP4 assembly on stop)
• EV compensation via vertical swipe, pinch-zoom across every lens the device exposes
• Extension modes (HDR, Night, Bokeh) where the device supports them
• EXIF preservation, customizable filename templates
• Optional geotagging (off by default; per-capture location permission)

Not yet implemented (please don't report as bugs)

• RAW capture, manual dials (ISO, shutter, aperture, focus, WB), focus peaking, custom picture profiles. Tier 2.
• Panorama. Mode chip exists but tapping the trigger shows a "not implemented yet" toast. Sweep-capture lands in Tier 2.
• Night mode via burst stacking, multi-frame HDR, super-resolution zoom. Tier 3.
• Zoom past your device's CameraX-reported max. On some flagship devices, the stock camera app can zoom further (Samsung's Space Zoom, Google's Super Res Zoom) using proprietary ML that no third-party app can access. Halation shows what the public camera APIs expose. Higher zoom via full-sensor crop is on the Tier 2 list; ML super-resolution is a Tier 3 candidate.

How to test

Two shapes work. Pick whichever fits your style; both are useful.

• Daily camera for a week or two. Use Halation instead of your usual camera. Shoot the situations you actually shoot in: outdoor sunlight, low light, indoors, portraits, landscapes, close-ups, whatever your normal mix is. This surfaces the surprises that a scripted session misses.
• Dedicated sessions from the checklist below. Structured coverage of the specific features. Best combined with the daily-camera approach for anything you'd otherwise skip.

Checklist

Grouped by area. Cover what you can; nobody expects the full list from every tester.

Capture basics

• Shoot a well-lit outdoor scene, a low-light indoor scene, and a backlit scene. Compare preview brightness to captured JPEG brightness.
• Front camera: same three scenes. Note whether the preview is mirrored the way you expect.
• Tap-to-focus: tap a bright object, then a dark one. Long-press to lock focus and exposure. A second tap elsewhere should release the lock.
• EV compensation: drag vertically on the preview to shift exposure. Verify the pill number matches what you set.

Lenses and zoom

• Slow pinch from 1x out to your device's maximum. Note any stutter as it crosses lens boundaries.
• Tap each chip in the lens row. Verify the active chip highlights correctly and the framing changes.
• If your device has ultrawide or telephoto lenses, verify they're each reachable via both pinch and chip.

Modes and timing

• Self-timer: set to 3s and 10s. The film-leader countdown ring should animate smoothly.
• Burst mode: long-press the shutter for roughly two seconds. A burst-progress arc should animate around the shutter and files should save with a shared burst id.
• Video: record 30 seconds, then a longer clip while walking. Switch to 4K if your device supports it.
• Time-lapse: set an interval, record for a minute, then stop. Verify frame files land at the interval you set, and the optional MP4 assembles cleanly.

Overlays and controls

• Enable the histogram and zebras. Point at a bright light. Zebras should appear on blown-out areas; the histogram should spike where you expect.
• Open the Advanced controls sheet, toggle each option, and confirm each takes effect on the next capture.

Rotation and lifecycle

• Rotate between portrait and landscape mid-session. Chrome should move cleanly.
• Switch away from the app mid-recording, then return. State should be sensible.
• Kill the app and cold-launch it. Time from tap to viewfinder-live is worth noting.

What to report

• Anything that crashes, freezes, or produces a wrong-looking result.
• Any control that felt confusing to find or use.
• Preview lag, focus lag, or shutter lag that surprised you.
• Divergence between what the preview showed and what the captured photo looks like.
• Anything you'd expect a modern camera app to do that Halation doesn't (worth checking against the Not-yet-implemented list first, but if it isn't there, we want to know).

How to report

In the app: Settings → Report an issue. The app bundles recent logs, device info, and your current settings into a text file, opens your email app with the report attached, and pre-fills the support address (halation@orezeno.app). The bundle is a plain text file; open it before sending if you have privacy concerns about what's in it.

Feature ideas or UX feedback that isn't a bug can go to halation@orezeno.app directly. Diagnostics not needed for those.

Thanks

Every crash you catch here is one fewer crash a stranger hits on the production listing. Device coverage across manufacturers matters most; Camera2 quirks are usually device-specific, and each tester on a different phone genuinely helps.

Last updated: 2026-07-28