
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Google’s Pixel telephones have lengthy had a name for handing over unbelievable cameras, paying homage to the unique Pixel or even the Nexus 6P. However after the use of my Pixel 7 Pro for over 9 months, I’ve discovered that the Pixel digicam app wishes an overhaul.
No, I’m no longer speaking about an overhaul in step with our contemporary Pixel 8 camera UI leak. As an alternative, I’m speaking about broader additions that will deliver the digicam app in keeping with digicam apps from the likes of Samsung, Xiaomi, and others.
1. Professional mode

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
Most likely probably the most oft-requested addition to the Pixel digicam app is a professional mode, often referred to as a handbook mode. In truth, our personal Rita El-Khoury has been wishing for a pro mode for a few years. Now, I do know what you’re considering: Why have a handbook mode when Pixels ship dependable photographs out of the field?
Pixels are the one Android flagships that wouldn’t have a handbook mode within the digicam app.
The power to manually dial for your photographs may also be very to hand, if what you’re doing. Desire a moodier, darker symbol? Guide changes would assist. Need natural-looking mild trails and silky water results with out resorting to the occasionally unpolished movement mode? A professional mode would permit this. Need finer keep watch over over center of attention changes? Yep, handbook settings open the door for this.
Google would even be catching as much as Android OEMs with a handbook mode, as Samsung, OPPO, OnePlus, Sony, and others all be offering this option, even on a few of their cheap Android phones. In truth, Samsung additionally gives the Expert RAW app for much more changes and choices.
2. A full-resolution mode

Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
Fresh flagship Pixels are provided with a 50MP primary digicam however shoot at 12.5MP as they use pixel-binning by way of default. Sadly, Google doesn’t allow you to shoot on the complete 50MP decision. We’d truly like to look the corporate be offering a full-resolution possibility on its long term Pixel digicam app, because the best Android phones or even contemporary iPhones supply this capacity.
It isn’t all the time really useful to seize a full-resolution symbol, in particular in low-light situations, because it may end up in a noisier, darker shot. However this may nonetheless be to hand in wide sunlight, giving customers extra resolvable element for cropping after the reality. Plus, these days’s flagship telephone processors are most probably robust sufficient to provide multi-frame symbol processing at very prime resolutions. Who wouldn’t need to see a 50MP HDR+ symbol?
3. Extra EXIF knowledge, please

Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
Google Footage does a forged task of letting what mode was once used to seize a particular shot. As an example, Night time Sight photographs have a moon icon, whilst movement mode snaps have a particular icon too.
I would like to look the Pixel digicam app save extra symbol information as EXIF knowledge, such because the seize mode and zoom issue.
In announcing so, I’d like Google so as to add extra EXIF knowledge to captured pictures. It will make existence more uncomplicated when searching at and organizing footage on a pc or for those who merely need to understand how you were given that nifty shot. Manufacturers like vivo use EXIF fields to indicate the precise mode used, in addition to zoom issue knowledge (e.g. 1x, 5x, or 10x) moderately than 35mm-equivalent focal lengths as Google does. Those EXIF fields are already there, it wouldn’t be an excessive amount of effort for Google to make higher use of them.
4. A greater zoom UI

Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority
If there’s one puppy peeve I’ve with the Pixel digicam app, it’s the zoom UI. Google’s zoom slider may be very finicky if you wish to zoom to a rounded quantity (corresponding to 5x as a substitute of four.7x). The corporate does allow you to faucet at the 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 10.0, and 30.0 icons at the zoom slider, however this doesn’t all the time paintings and calls for you to turn on the slider within the first position by the use of a pinch-to-zoom gesture.
I’d love to look Google tweak this zoom UI by way of adopting Samsung’s UI for zoom ranges (noticed above). The digicam app on Samsung Galaxy phones switches to a UI appearing shortcut buttons for more than a few zoom elements, corresponding to 3x, 10x, and 30x. Perfect of all, those buttons pop up whilst you transfer to a telephoto digicam — no wish to first pinch in. That suggests you’ll temporarily zoom in with out the use of each fingers.
5. Life like colour toggle

Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Between Apple, Sony, and plenty of extra, there’s no scarcity of smartphones with colour profile toggles on their newest telephones. Those choices let you transfer colour palettes, for extra saturated or lifelike colour profiles relying on how you wish to have your photos to appear.
The Pixel digicam app does not allow you to transfer between lifelike and saturated colour profiles, even if it is a fixture on many different telephones.
Google doesn’t be offering this option on its Pixels, so that you’ll wish to lodge to a photograph editor for those who suppose the photograph seems too saturated or drab. Preferably, Google would take a web page out of Apple’s ebook and be offering photographic types, however we’d be proud of even a unmarried colour toggle.
The Pixel digicam app is excellent, however might be higher

Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Those aren’t the one additions we’d love to look at the Pixel digicam app, however they’re unquestionably the extra urgent tweaks we’d like Google to make within the close to long term.
What do you call to mind the Pixel digicam app?
190 votes
Remember the fact that, it’s transparent that Android OEMs like Samsung have Google beat relating to digicam app design and/or options. So we truly hope the Pixel maker brings us greater than only a skin-deep UI overhaul when the Pixel 8 launches.