Galaxy S20 Camera Not Working

[turkeytrots]

I'm aware that there have been several posts on this subject, but I think my problem is a bit different. Samsung Galaxy S20, Android 11 September 2021 security patch level and One UI 3.1.

I do not use the camera except for occasional text translation and reading QR codes so I do not know when the problem first occurred. Using the Camera app the screen comes up with the picture but none of the buttons/menus  work so the picture cannot be captured. The app then closes sometimes showing the message "Camera keeps stopping".  I also cannot read QR codes from the Samsung Internet button. It just gives a blank screen then closes.

The camera works perfectly when taking text in the Translate (Google) and Translator (Microsoft) apps.

It also passed the test in Phone app > Dial *#0*# into your keypad, and select Megacam from the series of grey tiles. Clearly the camera seems to by physically OK.

I have tried the following:

Power off and reboot
Restart
Cleared Camera app data and cache
Force stop the app.

Just as an oddity when attempting to use the camera the screen brightness is automatically increased when it closes.

Any ideas please?

[Stickman2]

Maybe try soft reset.

[turkeytrots]

Many thanks for coming back to me. Excuse my ignorance but what is a soft reset? I don't want to do a factory reset as I know the Smart Switch back up app. does not store emails (a pain).

Maybe I'll try deleting the Camera app (using ADB) and re-installing

[Stickman2]

It's not factory reset just do power button and volume down button, it will show samsung logo, if it's on a system page, do the power button and volume down button.

[turkeytrots]

On my phone that does a screenshot.

[turkeytrots]

I found a helpful video which shows how to do it (ie hold the buttons down). No result I'm afraid.

[Fiona26]

You could try wiping the phone's cache partition. Also look up a video on how to do this. Hope it fixes your camera issue.

[turkeytrots · Accepted solution]

Fiona, many thanks for coming back to me.

I didn't try your suggestion, but I have proved that the Camera app is corrupt:

1. I deleted the app using ADB and miraculously the QR scanning from Samsung Internet then worked (see my original post)!

2. On reinstalling the app, nothing worked again.

I have now installed working camera and QR code apps from the Play Store and these work perfectly. Therefore it is the built-in Samsung app which is at fault. I noticed that the last two or three upgrades to Android 11 have featured enhancements to Camera so there lies the problem.

Any idea how to install a clean copy of the Samsung app (the Galaxy store doesn't help).

Paul