Today, Google is releasing the second public beta of Android 16, which will bring new features for professional photographers who want more control when shooting images and videos. Updates include new manual control options when using auto-exposure, fine-tuning of color temperature and hues, and support for Ultra HDR images in HEIC format. Following today’s release, two more public beta releases of Android 16 are expected before its full release sometime in the second quarter.
Previously, the Android camera app gave photographers a choice between full manual control of exposure settings and automatic exposure. Android 16 introduces new hybrid auto exposure modes that allow you to manually control the ISO or exposure time settings while the camera app’s auto exposure algorithms handle the rest. This will give photographers who want to avoid the noise that comes with higher ISO settings more flexibility.
White balance settings, which are currently limited to a list of presets including cloud cover, hot light, and twilight, are expanded with precise control over color temperature and hue. This will allow photographers to compensate for difficult lighting conditions and ensure accurate color reproduction in photos and videos without the need for further correction. But it also gives you more room to get creative with your images right from the camera.
Today’s public beta also adds support for Ultra HDR images in the HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) format, which is higher quality than JPEGs and takes up less space thanks to advanced compression techniques. Like Ultra HDR JPEG files, Ultra HDR HEIC files have a “gain map” embedded in the metadata so that they can be viewed correctly on older devices with standard dynamic range. On newer devices with wide dynamic range screens, additional color, brightness, and contrast detail will be visible.
