Google is bringing back this beloved Pixel Camera feature in a welcome update

Google’s Pixel Camera app has been a well oiled machine for quite some time now — the app offers a clean and intuitive user interface, excellent computational photography algorithms, and even some useful AI-enhanced tools.

However, one point of contention remains prominent: Google’s inexplicable removal of the dedicated quick access sliders for brightness, shadows, and white balance. To be clear, these sliders have since remained accessible, but have been buried deeper within the app’s settings menu as of version 9.6.

Thankfully, Google appears to have had a change of heart, as one Reddit user by the name of Over_Firefighter_510 has uncovered. It appears that the user has received an over-the-air update to version 9.7 of the Pixel Camera, which reinstates the fan-favorite feature.

Upon receiving Pixel Camera version 9.7, a new Quick access controls toggle appears within the app’s settings page. Once enabled, the main viewfinder is adorned by three easily accessible sliders. These allow you to control the brightness, shadows, and white balance of your image, before actually snapping a shot.

Over_Firefighter_510 / Pocket-lint

In typical Google fashion, version 9.7 of the Pixel Camera app appears to be releasing in a slow and controlled manner. My own Pixel 9 Pro has yet to receive the update, and it might take upwards of a few weeks for it to roll out on a broader scale.

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This latest Pixel Camera update coincides with the December 2024 Pixel Feature Drop

In addition to this new version 9.7 build of the Pixel Camera app, Google has recently pushed out its big December 2024 Feature Drop. The update brings several new features to Pixel phones, including:

• Smarter Call Screen replies, powered by Gemini Nano
• Ultra HDR image support within the Instagram app
• Automatic categorization within the Pixel Screenshots app
• A dedicated lock screen widgets pane for the Pixel Tablet
• A dual screen camera mode for the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and for the Pixel Fold
• New Gemini AI extensions

Google has been providing quarterly Pixel Feature Drops for a couple of generations now, and it seems to be a winning formula for the company. By staggering the release of new features throughout the year, the Pixel brand remains in a recurring cycle of hype and anticipation. Meanwhile, yearly Android platform releases are less user-facing than ever, including Android 16’s first Developer Preview build.

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