Summary
- The latest Pixel Camera update adds an option to enable Astrophotography mode manually.
- You can set the Astrophotography mode duration to as long as four minutes.
- Sideload the latest Pixel Camera release to get access to manual Astrophotography mode right away.
Google’s Pixel Camera app strikes a great balance between features and usability. It packs all the options you’ll need to click a great picture without going overboard. It even sports an Astrophotography mode, enabling you to capture the night sky. Unlike Night Sight and the Pro mode, though, there was no way to enable the Astrophotography mode manually. This is changing with the latest release of the Pixel Camera app.
Related
How to get the best astrophotography results with the Google Pixel
A little bit of preparation will go a long way in getting better results from Google’s incredible astrophotography mode
The only way to trigger Astrophotography mode on a Pixel phone currently is to place it on a stable surface, point the camera toward the night sky, and switch to Night Sight in the camera app.
With the latest Pixel Camera release (v9.5.118), when you first switch to Night Sight, a pop-up will appear highlighting the introduction of manual Astrophotography mode (via Google News Telegram channel). Dive into the Night Sight quick settings after this and ensure the Astrophotography option is enabled.
Source: Telegram News channel
In Night Sight mode, you will then see the Astrophotography icon, represented by a moon and star, at the bottom right. You also get manual control over the mode’s length, which can be as long as four minutes. A longer timeframe will allow your Pixel to take 16 pictures with a 16-second exposure each and merge them into one for the best quality.
Place the phone on a stable surface, set the frame correctly, and tap the shutter button to trigger a 5-second timer. After this, the phone will start capturing the night sky. You can’t customize this timer, but it’s useful because you get enough time to position the phone correctly after hitting the shutter. Depending on your Pixel’s age and the exposure length, the final image processing can take a while.
Sideload the latest Pixel Camera release to manually enable Astrophotpgrahy mode
You can wait for Google to push the latest Pixel Camera release through the Play Store, which can take a while, or manually sideload the build by trapping the APK from APKMirror. Note that you must download the entire 500MB APK bundle and then install it using the APKMirror app.
