Google is releasing the second public beta of Android 16 today that will introduce new features for professional photographers who want more control while capturing images and videos. The upgrades include new manual control options when using auto-exposure, precise color temperature and tint adjustments, and support for Ultra HDR images in the HEIC image format. Following today’s release, two more public beta releases of Android 16 are expected before its full release sometime in Q2.
Android’s camera app previously gave photographers the choice between full manual control of exposure settings or letting auto-exposure handle everything. Android 16 is introducing new hybrid auto-exposure modes that let you manually control ISO or exposure time settings, while the camera app’s AE algorithms handle everything else. This should give photographers who want to avoid the noise that comes with boosting ISO settings more flexibility.
White balance adjustments, which are currently limited to a list of presets including cloudy, incandescent, and twilight are being expanded with precise control over color temperature and tint. This will allow photographers to compensate for challenging lighting conditions and ensure they’re capturing color-accurate photos and videos without needing to apply color corrections afterward. But it also allows for more creativity in the look of images straight out of the camera.
Today’s public beta also adds support for Ultra HDR images in the HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) file format that is higher in quality than JPEG while taking up less space thanks to improved compression techniques. Like Ultra HDR JPEGs, Ultra HDR HEIC files will have a “gain map” embedded in their metadata so they can be properly viewed on older devices with standard dynamic range screens. On newer devices with high dynamic range screens, additional color, brightness, and contrast details will be visible.
The Android 16 public beta is available for Google Pixel phones starting with the Pixel 6 as well as the Pixel Tablet. To access it, you’ll need to opt in here using the device you want to test it on.
