Google Pixel 5 and 4a 5G users can no longer take astrophotography pictures with their 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 beautiful night sky with all of its stars. The functionality was first announced in Pixel 4, and when the 4a 5G and Pixel 5 both came out, 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 originally between November 1st and November 7th. Furthermore, Google made a change to its low-light support document indicating that the change 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 pictures that occurred when using the ultrawide angle lens. Take a look at the Google Support forum for photography examples.
It makes sense for Google to get rid of the feature if using the ultra-wide angle lens degrades quality. Personally, astrophotography wasn’t a functionality I ever got to use due to my living in downtown Toronto, so this isn’t something I’ll ever miss.
Source: The Verge