In the latest update to the camera app on Pixel, Google has now made it possible to manually activate the astrophotography mode.
As Android Police reports, if you want to take photos of the starry sky or moon, you can now adjust the settings yourself in the camera app.
You can now choose how long the phone will take photos for, although four minutes is the upper limit. The phone will then take a series of photos with 16 seconds of exposure time and fuse them together to give you the best image quality.
Of course, the longer the mode is running, the more images the app can use. While the new Pixel 9 series and its Tensor G4 chipset will be able to do it quickly, things may take a little longer on older Pixel phones.
To get good pictures of the starry sky, you first need to make sure your phone is as stable as possible and with the camera pointed at the sky. Once you press the button to start shooting, you have five seconds to place your phone in a good spot.
Astrophotography is part of the “Night Sight” mode within the camera app on Pixel phones. Previously, it was automatically activated when you pointed the camera at the sky, but now there is a menu where you can simply choose whether astrophotography is automatic or manual.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication M3 and was translated and adapted from Swedish.