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Google Removes the Photo Sphere Mode from the Pixel 8 Camera

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Re: Google Removes the Photo Sphere Mode from the Pixel 8 Camera

#31

Post by WirelessGigabit »

izacus wrote: post #30
Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #25

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.

Panorama mode replaces the functionality with better quality I guess.

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).

Re: Google Removes the Photo Sphere Mode from the Pixel 8 Camera

#32

Post by BatFastard »

Ajedi32 wrote: post #11
ydant wrote: post #4

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 "rel…

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,...

That is an impressive example.

Re: Google Removes the Photo Sphere Mode from the Pixel 8 Camera

#33

Post by squarefoot »

xnx wrote: post #16

Are there any recommended (preferably open source) Android app alternatives?

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.

Re: Google Removes the Photo Sphere Mode from the Pixel 8 Camera

#34

Post by julienpalard »

Ajedi32 wrote: post #11
ydant wrote: post #4

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 "rel…

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,...

Working for Google for free?

Re: Google Removes the Photo Sphere Mode from the Pixel 8 Camera

#35

Post by xnx »

squarefoot wrote: post #33
xnx wrote: post #16

Are there any recommended (preferably open source) Android app alternatives?

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 obtai…

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.

Re: Google Removes the Photo Sphere Mode from the Pixel 8 Camera

#36

Post by technofiend »

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 360° imagery only references commercial cameras and not their own phones with Photosphere.

[1] https://hackaday.com/tag/photo-sphere-tripod/

Re: Google Removes the Photo Sphere Mode from the Pixel 8 Camera

#37

Post by Ajedi32 »

julienpalard wrote: post #34
Ajedi32 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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,...

Working for Google for free?

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.

Re: Google Removes the Photo Sphere Mode from the Pixel 8 Camera

#38

Post by modeless »

ydant wrote: post #26
xnx wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you can still get it right from the Google Play app store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.sam...

That's Cardboard (the viewer app), not Cardboard Camera (the recording app). But as mentioned elsewhere, the official camera app does offer this functionality.

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.
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