Google Pixel 5 and 4a 5G users can no longer take astrophotography pictures with the smartphones’ ultrawide cameras. In the latest Google Camera 8.1 update, Google removed the lens’ astrophotography capabilities.
Astrophotography is a feature that allows the Google Pixel 4, 4a 5G and Pixel 5 to use ‘Night Sight’ to take pictures of the night sky and all of its stars. The functionality was first announced with the Pixel 4, and when the 4a 5G and Pixel 5 both releases, the feature was enabled on both its primary and ultra-wide angle lenses.
The Verge took a look at the Wayback Machine to discover that the change took place between November 1st and November 7th. Furthermore, Google made a change to its low-light support document indicating that the feature now only works on zoom settings equal to or greater than 1x.
Google hasn’t offered an official reason why it removed the feature, but it could be due to the quality of astrophotography when using the ultrawide angle lens.
While this shift might be disappointing for some Pixel 5 and 4a users, it makes sense for Google to get rid of the feature if using the ultra-wide angle lens degrades quality.
Source: The Verge
