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Android Authority
3 days ago
- Android Authority
As a Pixel fan, I tried the new iPhone app made by Google's camera team, and it's fantastic
Joe Maring / Android Authority In the Android world, it's hard to beat Google's Pixel phones for consistent, lifelike photos. While the HDR-ified look may not be for everyone, there's no questioning the sheer reliability of a Pixel camera. When you tap the shutter button, you can all but guarantee you'll get a pleasing and natural picture every single time. That camera experience is one of the main reasons I like using Pixels so much, and thanks to a new app called Indigo, you can now get something similar on the iPhone. Indigo is an iPhone camera app created by two individuals who worked on the Pixel Camera and Google Camera apps, and it incorporates the same HDR+ image processing from those apps into the iPhone. And rather than simply copying Google's approach, Indigo adds its own unique touch, aiming to reduce overexposure, blown-out highlights, and noise-filled shadows. It sounds like the perfect way to get a Pixel-like camera on an iPhone, but does it work? I tried Indigo side by side with Apple's camera app to find out. Comparing Indigo vs. the iPhone's default camera Joe Maring / Android Authority I tested Indigo on an iPhone 16, spending part of an afternoon snapping pictures with it and the default iPhone camera app. Indigo offers a range of manual controls, including shutter speed, ISO, temperature, and more. However, for this test, I ignored all of those settings. I simply opened each camera app and tapped the shutter button. Across the dozen or so pictures I captured, there's a pretty consistent difference between Indigo and Apple's camera. In almost every image, the Indigo picture has more shadows, more contrast, and more balanced highlights. Indigo camera Apple camera The picture of my dog above is a prime example of this. At first glance, the regular iPhone camera is the more eye-catching photo, largely because it's brighter. But that doesn't automatically mean it's the better of the two shots. Indigo's picture is much more accurate to how the room looked in person. My dog's darker fur around his snout is better represented in the Indigo shot. The white wall behind my dog also has a starker white color, compared to the blueish tint Apple's camera gave it. The Apple camera app is perhaps the more Instagram-worthy image, but I appreciate how much more true-to-life Indigo's picture is. Indigo camera Apple camera You see a similar result with the picture of the bookshelf. While it's a subtler example, it's another situation where brighter doesn't = better. The Indigo picture is darker and cooler, giving you a picture that's both more lifelike and a bit moody. The enhanced brightness in the Apple camera picture is visually less interesting to my eye. It also adds a halo effect around some letters on the books that isn't present in the Indigo photo. Beyond a simple battle of brightness vs. darkness, there's also a notable difference in how Indigo processes certain colors. Indigo camera Apple camera This is well represented in this shot of the nature trail. Here, Indigo does a really good job balancing the lush greenery and the overcast sky. The trees and tall grass are much more colorful and accurate to how they looked to my own eyes. The regular iPhone camera puts much more emphasis on enhancing the blue in the sky and the cloud detail at the expense of significantly darkening the rest of the scene. Personally, I prefer how Indigo handled this one. Indigo camera Apple camera My preference for Indigo continues with the picture of the dandelion. The Indigo app did a fantastic job of capturing the bright white of the pappus of the dandelion and the dark green plants behind it. The Apple camera app, meanwhile, has a warm, yellowish tint to the whole image that I don't particularly like. It's also much more noticeably sharpened than the Indigo picture, especially once you zoom in a little bit. Indigo camera Apple camera Last but certainly not least, a picture of my cat, Polo. Both photos are pretty good at first glance, and while the Apple camera app certainly didn't do a bad job, subtle details lead me to — again — prefer Indigo's result. Like the dandelion, the iPhone camera app pretty clearly sharpens a lot of details here, especially around Polo's nose. The Indigo image isn't lacking in detail, but it appears softer and more lifelike than the somewhat harsh photo Apple's camera took. I also prefer Indigo's subtler lighting around Polo's left ear and the warmer appearance of his brown fur. These are admittedly small things to consider, but I think they add up to make a better photo. Do you prefer the Indigo or Apple camera results? 0 votes Indigo camera NaN % Apple camera NaN % The Pixel camera experience we've been waiting for? Joe Maring / Android Authority After an afternoon with Indigo, I have to admit that I'm damn impressed with the results. The iPhone 16 takes good pictures with its default camera app, but in virtually every comparison between the two, I prefer the photos from Indigo. Indigo pictures are more Pixel-y than Apple's camera app, but they're also pretty clearly not a 1:1 imitation of the Pixel style. Based on my experience with the Pixel 9 series, the Indigo app favors darker shadows, contrast, and deeper colors in a way modern Pixel phones do not. And I love that. I think the folks behind Indigo are onto something special. Now, is Indigo perfect? Not by any means. Even after just a few hours of use, I ran into numerous issues with the app on my iPhone 16 — including pictures that didn't save, the viewfinder freezing, and overall slow performance. Indigo also caused my iPhone 16 to get really hot, to the point where I received two overheating notifications in the Indigo app. There are also missing camera modes, such as portrait mode and panorama photos. Even with all that being the case, I think the folks behind Indigo are onto something special, and I cannot wait for the Android version (which is coming, just without a firm ETA) to get here.
Android Authority
3 days ago
- Android Authority
Indigo is a new camera app by the guys who made the Pixel and Google Camera apps
Adamya Sharma / Android Authority TL;DR Adobe has launched the Indigo camera app on the Apple App Store. Two of the influential minds behind the Google and Pixel Camera apps are also working on Indigo. The team says they're planning an Android version of the app, but there's no word on a release window. The Pixel Camera app (formerly Google Camera) is perhaps the most influential smartphone camera app ever made. That was in large part due to the HDR+ processing and Super Res Zoom for improved hybrid zoom. Now, two of the brains behind the Pixel Camera app have launched a spiritual successor of sorts. Adobe recently launched the Indigo camera app on the iPhone's App Store, and it seems to build on the foundation of the Pixel Camera app. It's no coincidence as two of the creators, Marc Levoy and Florian Kainz, previously worked on the Google Camera and Pixel Camera apps. The duo penned a blog post describing Indigo as a computational photography camera app that provides great image quality, a more natural look, and full manual controls. Indigo picks up where the Pixel Camera left off Indigo follows Google's original HDR+ approach by combining a series of deliberately under-exposed images for each shot you take. However, Adobe's app differs by combining up to 32 images at once versus Google's 15 images. The team says it also under-exposes these images 'more strongly' than most other solutions. 'This means that our photos have fewer blown-out highlights and less noise in the shadows,' Levoy and Kainz explained. 'Taking a photo with our app may require slightly more patience after pressing the shutter button than you're used to, but after a few seconds you'll be rewarded with a better picture.' Adobe also posted two images (seen below) comparing a single frame captured by the iPhone to Indigo's multi-frame picture. The latter image unsurprisingly shows greatly reduced noise compared to the single-frame shot. Single frame output Multi-frame output Adobe explains that this approach also means less denoising (i.e., smoothing) is needed for images. In fact, the app leans towards minimal smoothing in order to preserve natural textures, even if this means there's some noise in the picture. This multi-frame approach with reduced denoising also applies to RAW images. Another Pixel Camera feature that's made its way to Indigo is Super Res Zoom. Google introduced this feature with the Pixel 3 series, combining multiple frames, your natural hand shake, and super-resolution to deliver improved hybrid zoom. Google also combined Super Res Zoom and image cropping from 1x and 5x cameras to deliver higher quality 2x and 10x shots. And Indigo offers pretty much the same approach on iPhone Pro Max models, enabling improved 2x and 10x images. In fact, the 2x and 10x zoom buttons have little 'SR' icons to denote super-resolution zoom. How else does Indigo stand out from other camera apps? Adobe said Indigo offers a more natural look by avoiding strong tone mapping, aggressive smoothing, and over-sharpening. We've also seen most brands use semantic segmentation (e.g., object/subject detection) to make major adjustments, but Adobe claims that Indigo only makes subtle tweaks. The Indigo camera app also offers a night mode, which combines up to 32 one-second-long images into one picture when a tripod is detected. However, the night mode still supports handheld photography, as you might expect. This behavior is in line with several other OEM camera apps, which can automatically detect a tripod and offer longer exposures. Other notable features include zero shutter lag, pro controls (ISO, shutter speed, exposure, white balance), and a long exposure mode that supports RAW output. In fact, Indigo also lets users set the number of captured frames to be combined into an image. The latter could be useful if you need to capture a fast-moving subject. Indigo app availability: What about Android? Adobe has released Indigo on the App Store, and it looks like you need an iPhone with at least 6GB of RAM: The app runs on all Pro and Pro Max iPhones starting from series 12, and on all non-Pro iPhones starting from series 14. The company also confirmed that an Android version of the app is in the pipeline, but it didn't reveal any more details. Other features on the way include alternative looks, a high-quality portrait mode, a video mode (with 'cool computational video' features), and a panorama option. Adobe said it's also considering several bracketing options (exposure, focus, etc), with the camera app combining these bracketed shots. The company says these options could be handy for astrophotography or a shot that's completely in focus. In any event, I'm glad to see two of the minds behind the modern Pixel Camera experience working on such a robust camera app. So our fingers are crossed that the app comes to Android sooner rather than later. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
