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Google’s latest generation Pixel 2 smartphones come with the built-in Visual Core dedicated imaging processor that powers the HDR+ mode’s sophisticated multi-frame-stacking computational imaging functions and other camera features. However, Visual Core wasn’t activated when the Pixel 2 devices were first launched, and only was enabled for developers in November last year.
The latest Android update now brings the power of Visual Core to all Pixel 2 users, an update smartphone photographer should be very excited about.
This update mainly means that Google’s excellent HDR+ mode is now available on all apps that call the camera and target API level 26, not just Google’s own Camera App. According to Google, this includes popular examples such as Instagram, Whatsapp or Snapchat, but we hope it also covers some of the powerful third-party camera apps available on Google Play.
Previously, those apps relied on a much more basic camera API that could not produce the same image quality as HDR+.
The Android update for the Google Pixel 2 will be rolling out over the next few days, along with other software improvements, so make sure you install the newest version as soon as it becomes available to take full advantage of the phone’s camera capabilities.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)