A novelty recently launched on Instagram allows us to perfect the quality of our photos when they are taken in low light conditions, the result of which is generally unsatisfactory: with the “Camera Extensions API” technology users can therefore finally be able to obtain high quality night shots. The functionality, however, is accessible at least for the moment only on recent smartphone models, i.e. for example on the Google Pixel, in any case from the 6 series onwards, on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, on the Z Flip6 and on the Z-Fold6. The list, however, should soon be extended to include other phones.
You can activate this new one “Night Mode” quickly and intuitively with a simple click on a moon-shaped icon that appears on the screen of the electronic device automatically just as you are trying to immortalize a subject in low light conditions. The results of the new feature are immediately noticeable from the quality of the shot, and the Instagram development team itself immediately expressed its enthusiasm for the great results obtained. Jin Cui, Partner Engineer, said that “Night mode has increased the number of photos taken and shared with the Instagram camera, as photo quality is now visibly better in low-light scenes.”
In reality, the new feature introduced on Instagram derives from the intervention of Google at the API level, with the aim of expanding the hardware potential of devices equipped with Android also to third-party apps. The Menlo Park giant therefore allows third-party developers to benefit from the hardware resources of Android devices to exploit different shooting modes. Thanks to this, the Instagram development team was able to implement its night mode, allowing its users to take shots directly through the app.
The “Camera Extensions API” technology allows users not only to activate the “Night mode”, but also to have a series of advanced functions, such as Portrait, Face retouch, and HDR modes: it is likely that further innovations of the can generally be implemented on electronic devices soon.
As mentioned, there are few smartphone models on which night mode is available: Google has it
support for this extension was introduced with the Android Feature Drop in December, but the announcement of an opening to other models gives hope to millions of users who have not yet experienced this functionality.