[HN Gopher] Google Removes the Photo Sphere Mode from the Pixel ...
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Google Removes the Photo Sphere Mode from the Pixel 8 Camera
Author : efraim
Score : 45 points
Date : 2023-10-12 13:34 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.androidauthority.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.androidauthority.com)
| sva_ wrote:
| It was more of a gimmick with pretty subpar results anyways.
| sharkjacobs wrote:
| it seemed very of a piece with Google Cardboard
| nkozyra wrote:
| I was always surprised how well it worked.
|
| I definitely didn't use it often but every time I did it came
| out pretty cool and without glitches or artifacts.
| ncann wrote:
| The result is usually pretty good when it's outdoor. It's
| worse when it's indoor, but that's how it generally is with
| any 3D panorama/photosphere app.
| dmitrygr wrote:
| Used it a lot. It was the only thing I missed after switching to
| iOS. Google has successfully made sure that I now have no reason
| to switch back.
| survirtual wrote:
| Same. I have photospheres of many remote places and would
| revisit them in VR. It was magical. I wish the capability was
| further developed instead of dropped.
| hospitalJail wrote:
| Security seems like a pretty decent reason to switch. I stopped
| letting apple products on my home network out of Pegasus fears.
| jailedhospital wrote:
| ROFLCOPTER. Can you tell me what kind of tinfoil you're using
| for your hat?
| ygjb wrote:
| Do you switch ecosystems and products each time a new threat
| actor or malware toolkit shows up?
|
| If your personal threat model warrants it, you might be
| better off with a feature phone instead - the attack surface
| on both Android and iOS are enormous.
| shmde wrote:
| What makes you think Pegasus doesn't have 0 Day for
| Android/Windows/Linux ?
| ydant wrote:
| That's a shame. I don't use it a lot, but it's contributed to my
| photographic memories over the years. Quality was never amazing,
| but it could make for some fun pictures.
|
| A somewhat related feature I miss that Google dropped a while ago
| is Cardboard Camera.
|
| https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.vr....
|
| It basically took panoramas that also included a short clip of
| sound, which made for some fun "relive the moment" style
| picture/videos. It's a bit different from video, and was
| especially fun in the "turn your phone into a VR headset" short-
| lived experiment to teleport yourself back to a moment in time.
| They still work in Google Photos and there's still the little
| cardboard "VR" mode button to view them, although I imagine
| that'll silently disappear at some point.
|
| Edit: As pointed out below, the Cardboard Camera functionality is
| in the official Google Camera panorama mode now (under settings
| when in that mode).
| modeless wrote:
| The stereo effect Cardboard Camera produced was really good,
| just with a regular phone without needing any special stereo
| camera hardware. Shame it's not available anymore.
| m-watson wrote:
| Yea, I agree. I similarly used it when I was moving I would
| take 360 photos of my old rooms or for seasonal decorations to
| see how the room changes over time. It looks like there are
| some decent 3rd party ones on the market but we'll see. It was
| a nice partner to cardboard.
| Ajedi32 wrote:
| It's also had great secondary benefits for Google Maps. I've
| contributed quite a few photo spheres to Google Maps over the
| years, which show up on Street View in areas that a Street View
| car would never be able to get to.
|
| Example (not mine):
| https://www.google.com/maps/@49.0573911,-113.9034101,3a,75y,...
| BatFastard wrote:
| That is an impressive example.
| julienpalard wrote:
| Working for Google for free?
| Ajedi32 wrote:
| I like helping people. If there's an open source equivalent
| of Street View I can contribute my photos to I'd be happy
| to upload them there as well.
| andybak wrote:
| I'm still using Cardboard Camera. It installed on my new phone
| when I set up it (probably because it was on the previous
| device).
|
| Have you tried grabbing the apk from somewhere?
| xnx wrote:
| I think you can still get it right from the Google Play app
| store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.goog
| le.sam...
| andybak wrote:
| Ah - I presumed the reason people were mourning it's demise
| was because it wasn't still on the store!
| ydant wrote:
| That's Cardboard (the viewer app), not Cardboard Camera
| (the recording app).
|
| But as mentioned elsewhere, the official camera app does
| offer this functionality.
| modeless wrote:
| It probably doesn't do the stereo image though, right?
| That was the coolest part. You need a VR device to see it
| properly but it really adds to the photo.
| xnx wrote:
| Edit: Correction. The viewer app is on the store, not the
| camera app that allows you to take panoramas.
| xnx wrote:
| Cardboard Camera was a great toy. It's amazing how much more
| immersive that type of capture can be.
|
| Interesting to note that panoramas in the latest Google Camera
| app still have the option to record audio.
| ydant wrote:
| > Interesting to note that panoramas in the latest Google
| Camera app still have the option to record audio.
|
| You're right! I've never tapped the settings icon on the
| panorama view, but sure enough, there's a "audio recording"
| option. It's unfortunately a bit hidden and thus hard to
| decide on a case-by-case basis, but it's there.
|
| This effectively replaces cardboard camera. Thanks for
| pointing that out!
| bobsmith432 wrote:
| So they're removing features now? Didn't the Pixel 7 and Fold
| come out this year? Why is an 8 already out? I don't think
| there's really been any groundbreaking new technology or chips
| since like, the Pixel 5. I will exclude the Pixel Fold, because
| it's at least a new and interesting design, albeit Google not
| really doing anything special with the foldable design from what
| I've heard. The problem with the Pixel line is that HTC isn't
| given enough time to solidify their designs and end up releasing
| defective/ghetto hardware which is followed by Google scratching
| their heads and shrugging when bombarded with complaints and
| issues. My Pixel 1 had serious hardware issues, my Pixel 2 had a
| 30 minute battery life, my Pixel 3 died one day and never turned
| back on, and the screen on my Pixel 5a had a complete breakdown
| but luckily Google fixed that for free and I'm rocking this thing
| till it explodes. I wish they could give them a couple years
| between phone series to really make them more special and
| groundbreaking. Pixel is starting to head towards an iPhone
| copycat brand and nobody wants another one of those.
| alok99 wrote:
| The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro came out last year. The 7a came out this
| year, which is the same pattern they've used for the past few
| generations. As far as the yearly cadence, well, that's what
| everyone does now. I agree that a couple years between
| generations would be better, but that doesn't seem to be the
| prevailing opinion.
| titaniumtown wrote:
| Sad to see this go. I always enjoyed making photo spheres when
| traveling to show family members and friends my point of view. It
| wasn't perfect but it was pretty darn good for what it was!
| xnx wrote:
| Are there any recommended (preferably open source) Android app
| alternatives?
| squarefoot wrote:
| I'm not aware of any Android or mobile apps. For other
| platforms (Linux, Mac, Win) there are interesting tools using
| the Panorama Tools library that should accomplish similar
| tasks. https://panotools.sourceforge.net/
|
| For a list of those tools, go to "Software using the Panorama
| Tools library" near 75% of the page. I've used Hugin in the
| past to stitch together some photos I took with my camera from
| a balcony to obtain a very large panorama picture.
| xnx wrote:
| Thanks. I should give Hugin another try. It was much more
| finicky than Microsoft Image Composite Editor that I've been
| using since 2008: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-
| us/answers/questions/252274/h... It's a very old tool, but
| zero configuration to get a decent panorama.
| OliveMate wrote:
| It was never perfect, but it was a great niche for storing
| memories of certain places in a way that pictures or a normal
| panorama couldn't do. That faux-3D scroll really helped capture
| -something- of the moment which brings everything back when you
| look at it.
| lawlessone wrote:
| Why though ? :(
| Sohcahtoa82 wrote:
| Dafuq? Why?
|
| Photo Sphere was great for posting to Facebook, which would allow
| users to pan around the image.
|
| And I imagine some people were using it to post 360-degree
| panoramas to Google Maps.
|
| It wasn't perfect, sure, but it was good enough. I don't know why
| they would remove this.
| izacus wrote:
| Panorama mode replaces the functionality with better quality I
| guess.
| WirelessGigabit wrote:
| Does it though? I think because Panoramas flatten the image
| we skew it much more.
|
| A photosphere was accurate no matter which part of the image
| you look at (bar any merging artifacts).
| technofiend wrote:
| That's a damn shame, because with a case dedicated to this use
| case, you can put your phone on a camera tripod [1] and get
| really nice photospheres. In fact until I read this feature was
| dropped, I was anticipating hacking a Peak Design magsafe back to
| do exactly that.
|
| Oh well, maybe I'll just keep using the pixel 6 pro for that. As
| others have noted, it's useful to upload panorama and
| photospheres to Google maps. Particularly for people who are
| sight or mobility limited, it may be their best option to
| virtually visit a space. Not that Google Earth isn't also useful,
| but people will happily crowd source images for places Google
| photo cars can't go. Google's "Street Trekker" program is done
| and even their own web page for uploading 360deg imagery only
| references commercial cameras and not their own phones with
| Photosphere.
|
| [1] https://hackaday.com/tag/photo-sphere-tripod/
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(page generated 2023-10-12 21:01 UTC)