Instagram is now using Android’s Camera Extensions API enabling a “Night Mode” on the latest Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones. Instagram Night mode helps users click better-looking photos in low-light environments. Moreover, Android 16 has also been confirmed to bring a Night Mode indicator API.
Now, when Instagram users on Android take a photo in low light environments, they’ll see a moon icon that allows them to activate Night Mode for better image quality. Instagram Night Mode is currently available to users with any Pixel device from the Pixel 6 series and up, a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, or a Samsung Flip 6 or Fold 6, with more devices to follow soon.
The Camera Extensions API in Android allows third-party apps to access various exclusive camera features “implemented by the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)” in their phones. These include:
- Auto: adjusts the extension mode according to the current scene background, which depends on the vendor library implementation. For example, in low light scenarios, Auto switches to Night to take a picture. For portrait photos, Auto applies Face Retouch or Bokeh.
- Bokeh: sharpens the foreground subject and blurs the background. Usually used to take portrait photos of people with a soft, out-of-focus background.
- Face Retouch: touches up skin texture, under-eye tone, and more.
- HDR (High Dynamic Range): widens exposure range, resulting in more vivid photos. In HDR mode, the camera takes several photos with various exposure values and merges them into one.
- Night: brightens photos in low-light situations. The camera takes several photos at various exposure values and merges them into one. This process can take several seconds, and the user should hold the phone still while the camera captures photos.
Furthermore, exposing this OEM-specific functionality through the Extensions API allows developers to use a consistent implementation across all of these devices, getting the best of both worlds: implementations that are tuned to a wide range of devices with a unified API surface, as per the company. As of now, Google claims there are “over 120 different devices that support the Camera Extensions, representing over 75 million monthly active users.”
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Aside from the Instagram Night Mode, there’s a new feature coming with Android 16 which will help developers implement the moon icon indicator, also known as the night mode indicator. It will let the user know that a Night Mode capture will happen. Moreover, it will let the user tap the moon icon to disable Night Mode capture. This will be implemented through an upcoming API in Android 16 next year to let you know when the device is in a low-light environment.
Here are the possible values for the Night Mode Indicator API:
- Unknown: The camera is unable to reliably detect the lighting conditions of the current scene to determine if a photo will benefit from a Night Mode Camera Extension capture.
- ON: The camera has detected lighting conditions that are sufficiently bright. Night Mode Camera Extension is available but may not be able to optimize the camera settings to take a higher-quality photo.
- OFF: The camera has detected low-light conditions. It is recommended to use Night Mode Camera Extension to optimize the camera settings to take a high-quality photo in the dark.