Google has removed the astrophotography capabilities within
the camera lens of Pixel 5 and 4a 5G. The feature has been taken away with Google
Camera’s 8.1 update.
This special feature was a selling point of the Pixel 4 and
was also available on the regular and telephoto cameras. It was also added to
the 4a 5G and 5 with their new wide-angle lenses.
The feature allowed users to take photos of the night sky by pointing their phone up and keeping it still by balancing it on an object or setting it up on a tripod.
It’s not like users can no longer take those magnificent night
sky photos though, since the feature is still available on cameras other than
the regular cameras of Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5. The only difference is that you’ll
now get a warning that says “Zoom to 1x for astrophotography.” Previously it
would just say “Astrophotography on.”
While the reason behind this update is unknown, it seems
like the change was made some time in the first week of November.
