Astrophotography has been a favorite since Pixel users in 2019, and it’s getting better as Google’s camera software evolves. When the Pixel 5 and 4a 5G were launched with an ultra wide camera, were very excited to see what it could do in astro mode. Unfortunately, the quality was lacking, and now Google has eliminated the use of this lens.
After updating Google Camera 8.1, you will not be able to use astro mode unless you are using the main camera. If you zoom out ultra-wide, a “Zoom up to 1x for astrophotography” banner will appear at the top of the screen.
It is unfortunate to see this limitation, although it is not surprising since the images that emerge from it were so bad. Hopefully Google will continue to work on this and one day bring it back to a more polished state. Rest assured that the normal night mode still works as before with the ultra wide lens so you will not miss it.
The last update of the app started around December 9th, so you probably already received it via the Play Store. If not, you can download the latest version (or a return to a previous version) from APK Mirror.
