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The new Pixel 9 series brought some camera upgrades to try to compete against the best camera phones in the industry. Every new Pixel generation releases a new Pixel Camera (FKA Google Camera) app update. The Pixel 9 series is no exception, and its Pixel Camera 9.5 is already available to try on older models.
Someone extracted the APK of the Pixel 9 series’ Camera app and uploaded it to APKMirror. So, users of older Pixel phones can install it and try out the new features. However, it seems that many of the improvements announced with the Pixel 9 series are device-dependent. That means they are not available on older Pixels after applying the update. Google will have to enable the features later (if that is in their plans).
Pixel Camera 9.5 APK now available to sideload on older Pixel models
9to5Google confirmed the new options available on a Pixel 8 Pro after installing the Pixel Camera 9.5 update. The Pixel 8 Pro is the most powerful model of last year’s Google phones, so one would expect at least some of the new advanced features to be available. However, at least for now, that’s not the case.
According to the report, the Pixel Camera 9.5 update brought a new 5-second timer preset to the Pixel 8 Pro. Previously, only 3-second and 10-second options were available. Also, you can now access the Guided Frame feature from within the camera app without having to go into the device’s accessibility settings. The upgraded Magnifier 2.0 with text search capabilities and PiP support is also available. Google announced these and other accessibility updates in a blog post.
Basically, that’s all the Pixel Camera 9.5 enables on a Pixel 8 Pro. New features like the redesigned Panorama mode or the AI-powered “Add Me” for group photos are missing. You also won’t find Video Boost improvements like Night Sight or AI-powered 8K upscaling. It’s up to Google to bring these features to older Pixel models, though its plans in that regard are unclear.