Getting close and personal is getting easier. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Google’s updating its camera app to give Pixel 7 Pro users more control over its macro mode by adding a toggle that lets them manually turn it off or on instead of having to rely on the auto mode that my colleague Allison Johnson described as “kinda unpredictable.” While the phone can still try to detect if you’re close enough to a subject like it has since launch, it’s nice for there to be an actual menu for those who want finer-grain control.
According to Allison’s testing, the new options live in the settings cog accessible in the top-left corner of the camera’s viewfinder. Google’s added a “macro focus” option that lets you choose between off, auto mode, and on. According to 9to5Google, you were previously only able to temporarily turn it off after it had activated.
Screenshot: Allison Johnson / The Verge
Macro focus is a new option in the camera settings.
The change absolutely makes sense; if Google’s branding the Pixel 7 Pro as a phone for photo-obsessed power users, it should give those users as much control as possible if they want it.