Google Pixel phones will better capture the night sky

Google Pixel phones will amend capture the night sky

(Epitome credit: Tom's Guide)

Google's Pixel phones are picking upward a new photography skill and also getting smarter, thanks to new features rolled out by Google every bit office of its June update. The update also includes a promised modify from last month's Google I/O event aimed at boosting the phone's privacy features.

For photographers, the highlight of the June Pixel characteristic drop will exist an expansion to the Google telephone'south astrophotography features. Introduced with the Pixel 4 back in 2019, astrophotography lets you take clear pictures of the night sky. With this latest update, you'll be able to besides create videos of stars moving across the sky during the same exposure.

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According to Google, when you take a photo in Nighttime Sight, your Pixel will salvage both the still epitome and the video onto your camera ringlet. The feature's no surprise — the latest Google Pixel Tips app update included lawmaking pointing to astrophotography improvements. It will exist available on the Pixel 4 and newer models.

Every bit for improved smarts, Google is adding a feature to its Digital Wellbeing tools that could reduce your chances of walking into someone or some thing when you're moving about while also looking at your telephone screen. Dubbed Heads Up, the new feature allows your Pixel to notice when y'all're walking and send periodic reminders to look upward from your screen. Whether you lot listen is upwardly to you lot.

Other improvements to the Pixel phone's smarts include the ability to reply or refuse calls via vox commands to the Google Assistant. ("Hey Google, respond call" or "Hey Google, reject call" should practice the trick.) Gboard gets improvements to where you can re-create text that includes contact info like a phone number, e-mail address or URL, and snippets volition appear in the clipboard for like shooting fish in a barrel pasting in other apps.

At Google I/O, the software giant announced it would exist bringing a Locked Folder feature to Google Photos where yous could store images that you didn't want to include in Shared Albums. That characteristic'due south now live, Google says.

Additionally, the Pixel feature drops brings auto crash detection to Espana, Ireland and Singapore, subsequently the feature had already been available in the U.S., United kingdom and Australia. Call screening features are now available in Japan, while Google's recorder app now supports more English dialects. For Pride month celebrations, Google'southward added wallpapers and ringtones to mark the occasion.

Google's latest feature drop comes merely earlier Apple's Worldwide Programmer Conference is nearly to brainstorm, featuring a preview of the new features coming in this year's iOS 15 update. It'due south not as well cynical to advise that the timing isn't exactly coincidental. Think of this as Google's way of throwing downwards a marker to bear witness that its phones are still adding features to compete with Apple's iPhone.

Philip Michaels is a senior editor at Tom's Guide. He has strong opinions nearly Apple, the Oakland Athletics and old movies. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.