Today, Pixel Camera Services has been updated to support Night Sight within the Snapchat app. This component app makes it possible for Pixel camera features to be supported on third-party camera apps like Instagram and Snapchat. Features such as tapping into the ultrawide and telephoto cameras to take photos and video directly on Instagram and Snapchat’s viewfinders.
Back when Google announced the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, it made a big deal about its integration with the Snapchat app. First, it launched with “Quick Tap to Snap” to instantly bring up the Snapchat viewfinder from the lock screen. Samsung also announced camera integration features within Snapchat with the launch of the Galaxy S22, along with TikTok and Instagram.
With this update, you can take Night Sight photos using the Snapchat app, but there’s a requirement. Your Google Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro must be on the March update, which is has not yet arrived to these devices. On the other hand, if your Pixel 6 or 6 Pro is running the QPR3 Beta 1 update, you can Snap away with Night Sight. Just tap the moon icon to toggle it on or off.
Standard viewfinder VS Low Light Mode enabled (leveraging Night Sight)
It’s worth noting that Snapchat’s already existing ‘Low Light Mode’ leverages Night Sight in the app, and it can only be used with the main camera. If you try to activate Low Light Mode with the ultrawide or telephoto cameras enabled, you’ll get the following message.
Low Light Mode only compatible with main camera
The superior and best integrated social camera app experience remains on iOS, but it’s nice to see Google, Samsung, and Snapchat make the effort to improve the in-app camera experience on some devices. This isn’t the end of Android fragmentation, but it certainly is a step in the right direction.