Google Gives Magic Eraser to All Pixel Phones and Speeds Up Night Sight
Google has announced new camera upgrades courtesy of a software update it will roll out to Pixel smartphones starting today, which promise faster low-light shots and broader editing features.
Night Sight will now take less time to capture a photo, though Google didn’t quantify how much time it actually shaved off the process once a user taps the shutter. The catch is that the update affects the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, essentially bringing those two phones in line with their respective successors.
Google previously touted the performance improvements when it launched the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, saying its Tensor chipset powered the extra efficiency. Using unspecified algorithms, it managed to pull the same thing off with the original Tensor chip. The update doesn’t appear to extend to the Pixel 6a, Google’s mid-range handset that also uses the same Tensor chip.
Magic Eraser For All
In addition, Google also rolled out its Magic Eraser editing tool to all Pixel phones, allowing anyone, including those using older models, to make unwanted people and objects disappear from their images.
This follows a previous announcement in February that brought the feature to the Pixel 5a and earlier devices, as well as Google One accounts, effectively opening it up to non-Pixel and iOS users using Google Photos. Samsung has a similar feature it calls “Object Eraser” in the Gallery app, though anyone can access Magic Eraser on a compatible Galaxy phone. That February rollout also gave Pixel and Google One users the option to apply an HDR preset effect onto video, something previously only relegated to stills.
Magic Eraser was never exclusive to photos taken with Pixel phones, meaning you could upload any photo to your Google Photos account and apply the effect to it afterward. That’s still the case, leaving open the possibility of using Magic Eraser with any images stored in that account, regardless of which camera they came from.
Google didn’t mention Photo Unblur, a tool it introduced with the Pixel 7 devices as an extension of the Face Unblur tool released in the Pixel 6 models. Nor has it expanded Camouflage, which remains exclusive to the Pixel 6a.
