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The Pixel 5's camera is so good that I've ditched my mirrorless cam while traveling
Reliably excellent photos in any condition are all I need
A few years ago, the only camera in my pocket/bag was my phone. Starting with the LG G2 and going up to the G3, G4, Galaxy S7 Edge, then Pixel 2 XL, all that I could rely on was my phone and nothing else. I took good photos, great even, but I wanted to learn, improve, and capture better ones, so I bought a mirrorless Olympus cam with several lenses. It accompanied me on my trips to Nepal, the UAE, Spain, and Greece, and I loved using it. But as I was packing for my most recent trip to Belgium, I looked at my Olympus then at my Pixel 5 and made the rash decision to skip the former and rely solely on the latter. I never regretted it.
How to use your Pixel to capture gratuitously beautiful photos of cathedrals (and other stuff too)
...and other challenging light situations
Ever since the Nokia N95, my phone has always been my main camera. I've bought point and shoots, mirrorless/DSLRs, several 360 cams, but nothing beats the simplicity of pulling out the device that's already in my pocket, tapping a few on-screen buttons, and snapping the photo I want. On big occasions, I'll make the effort to take my Olympus mirrorless with me, but smartphones — especially Pixels — have gotten so good that I still revert to them when I'm in an especially challenging situation. This often happens in cathedrals and other half-dark half-brightly lit places where capturing the image that's in my head would require a level of cam-manipulation and post-processing knowledge that I don't have. In these circumstances, I've discovered that the Pixels' Night Sight is a godsend, even mid-day.
The Pixel 5's camera blew me away during a Champagne cellar visit (Gallery)
Some wallpaper-worthy shots for you
This past weekend, my husband and I were celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary in Reims, a city in the Champagne region in France. Yes, that Champagne too. A 45-minute TGV ride from Paris and we were smack in the middle of one of the most notorious bubbly cities in the world, where flutes overflow with sparkling joy and where you can visit dozens upon dozens of Champagne houses, from the well-renowned names to the small local producers. We visited Taittinger's Gallo-Roman chalk pits, where the bottles rest during the multi-step process that transforms grapes into the effervescent liquid we all know.
The idea of Photoshop on a phone-sized screen may sound a little funny, but Adobe's Photoshop Camera still does its best to bring pro-level AI-powered features to the masses on their mobile devices. The app exited its beta testing period earlier this year, and now it's adding support for a key feature that should make it much nicer to use at night — that's right, dark mode has arrived.
Google introduced dark mode with Android 1o last year, but it's taking a while to update all of its apps with support for the feature. Google Maps started rolling out dark theme just a couple months ago. Now Google Analytics is joining the lights-out league with a dark theme of its own — plus a few other new features.
Google Camera Go update brings Night Mode photography to low-end phones
The dedicated camera mode will roll out to the Nokia 1.3 first
Google introduced Camera Go earlier this year as part of an effort to bring high-end photography to low-end devices. The app provides access to Google's AI-powered photography tricks while keeping the requirements for storage space and processing power at a minimum. Portrait mode was the main launch feature for Camera Go, and now it looks like another highly requested capability is coming: a dedicated Night Mode for shooting in low light.
Newton Mail adds dark mode in first major release since being sold by Essential
No obnoxious Google Meet integration here
The Newton Mail story has had a lot of plot twists over the years. The popular third-party email client announced it was shutting down in 2018, only to be revived by Essential later on. That didn't work out for obvious reasons, but the app returned to life earlier this year and now it's back with a brand-new coat of paint — and some new features as well.
Android 10 brought support for application theming last year, allowing developers to customize the in-app experience with light and dark looks. The feature wasn't adopted by many third-party apps at the start — even Google is still tweaking the dark theme experience on its own Phone app. But as time passes, more developers climb aboard. Now the latest to joining the dark mode train is language-teaching app Duolingo.
YouTube Studio app picks up dark theme only two years after YouTube added it
It doesn't follow the system theme though
YouTube introduced dark mode for its Android app back all the way back in the summer of 2018. The YouTube Studio app, which provides tools for channel management, was left behind. While YouTube Studio added SmartReplies last month, the app remained starkly white — until now.
Xiaomi testing astrophotography mode in the MIUI 12 camera app
MIUI 12 is shaping up to be a big update
Xiaomi announced its latest system software, MIUI 12, back in April. That's set to bring users a ton of neat features such as improved privacy controls, support for navigation gestures, and a more modern overhaul of the UI. Now it looks like the company may be delivering some new camera capabilities as well, in the form of an astrophotography mode.
WhatsApp begins rolling out dark mode to its desktop and web apps
Animated stickers, QR code profile sharing, and now more darkness
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WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, and it's only been getting more feature-rich thanks to recent updates like profile sharing via QR codes and animated stickers in chats. But the company isn't neglecting the basics either, and it's now adding a dark mode for the desktop and web. The rollout has started and will continue over the next couple of weeks.
Microsoft is adding a dark mode for OneDrive on the web
This will bring the web version in line with the design of the mobile apps
Dark mode is becoming more of a necessity these days with most apps and operating systems supporting it (looking at you, ChromeOS). Microsoft started testing a dark mode in its OneDrive Android app last year, and it made it into the stable release a few months back. Now the company has unveiled that dark mode for OneDrive on the web is on its way.
The Google app's dark theme is officially rolling out in stable this week, but only on Android 10
Dark theme is stepping out of beta and into the light
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Last year, both Google and Apple added dark theming options into their mobile operating systems, with many system apps supporting the feature. Some apps took longer than others, though, like Google's own search app. We reported that its dark theme was available through the Play Store Beta program earlier this year, and now the feature is rolling out to all users on Android 10.
The Samsung Galaxy S10 and Note10 get a slew of S20 software features (Update: US rollout, NavStar fix)
Samsung has not forgotten about its 2019 flagships and is pushing out the One UI 2.1 update now
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The Galaxy S20 phones may be Samsung's new flagships, but since the company continues selling the S10 line alongside it, it keeps doing a stellar job at providing software updates: The Korean manufacturer is beginning to roll out a big update to last year's series, giving it a ton of One UI 2.1 features from the Galaxy S20, most notably in the photography department. The Note10 is benefitting from the same treatment.
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Dark mode is definitely the feature your software needs to have these days, and what better timing than releasing it in time for Halloween? Microsoft's OneDrive is the company's latest app to get the treatment, following in Outlook's footsteps.
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- Dark mode in OneNote is showing up for some users on Android now, but it's a server-side update on the latest beta of the app. There's no manual toggle to turn it on or off, so you either have it or not. It's also clearly still in development, as you'll find many instances of black text on dark backgrounds. Thanks, Olanrewaju and Divyanka!
Dark modes are becoming increasingly popular these days. Not only do they look cool, they can also save battery on AMOLED screens, as they limit the number of pixels that need to be lit. A lot of apps have started boasting darker schemes, and following popular demand, Microsoft is working on one for OneNote, which will be available across all platforms.
Samsung introduced the system-wide dark mode with its redesigned One UI much before Android and iOS came out with their own versions. The company improved its implementation with the second iteration of the software skin and simultaneously gave many of its apps a UI refresh to make them work well with the darker theme. Now Samsung Health joins the list as the latest app to get the dark mode treatment.
On the first day of the new decade, we all anticipate the promise and potential of a new year. If you're a fan of the messaging service Telegram, you also have a new update to look forward to. The latest v5.13 release includes support for gradient/pattern themes, message scheduling that targets a contact's online status, easier access to the Night Mode toggle, some new animations, and plenty of other improvements.
In what should come as a surprise to no one, it turns out just making your smartphone's screen kind of yellow may not stop it from keeping you awake. In fact, according to a study out of the University of Manchester, that yellow-shifted "night light" is even worse for helping you get to sleep than just leaving your phone in the standard untinted mode.
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It looks like Samsung is firing on all cylinders when it comes to updating its recent devices to Android 10. After pumping out seven Android 10 One UI 2.0 beta updates for the Galaxy S10 series within a time span of six weeks, Samsung has now rolled out Android 10 beta for the Galaxy S9, S9+, and Note 9 users in South Korea and India. Besides getting Android 10, Samsung's older flagships also received an early Christmas present from the company: Night mode photography that works on more than just the primary camera.