Google Pixel 6

Google working on ‘magic eraser’ and more features that might debut in Pixel 6

Ben Schoon | Sep 23 2021 - 2:21 pm PT

As more Pixel 6 leaks give us a better picture of what else Google has in store for next month, another report is revealing some interesting details about the camera. Apparently, Google has several new features possibly coming to the Pixel 6 Pro’s camera, including one we’ve been waiting years for.

The folks over at XDA have dug into the Google Camera app that’s sourced from someone who has a Pixel 6 Pro in hand. Through inspecting the app, we get an idea of what camera features may be coming with the Pixel 6 series, though there’s a fair bit of uncertainty about what’s actually coming.

In the report, one of the features mentioned is “face deblur,” which Google has actually confirmed. When the company presented demonstrations of the phone around August, this feature was shown off with the ability to make a sharper image of a subject that was moving when the shot was taken. This report confirms the feature is present and enabled on the Pixel 6 series, as well as hinting that users will have the ability to save versions of the shot before and after the “face deblur” effect was applied.

More interestingly, though, is evidence of a Pixel 6 camera feature known as “magic eraser.” The feature is marked as enabled on the Pixel 6 series, but there’s no clear explanation of exactly what it is. Given the name, it’s speculated that this could finally be the arrival of the “image obstruction removal” feature that Google teased in 2018, but never actually shipped. There’s no clear evidence to support this, but it would explain why the feature is “accelerated” by Tensor’s TPU and appears to be a post-processing effect. However, another explanation could be something as simple as removing unwanted glare or small objects from the background of an image.

Other features found in the Camera app on Pixel 6 Pro include “motion blur,” which is explained as a feature that adds “creative blur effects” to photos. “Scene lock” is mentioned, but there’s no indication of what the feature may do. “Nima aesthetic” is also found in the code and appears to have something to do with taking the best image in a burst capture. Another neat feature that seems to be coming is “timer light,” which uses the LED flash to count down a shot.

None of these features, however, appear to be ready to ship on the Pixel 6 Pro, or at the very least are not present on the device at this time, and we know Google certainly has a history of having features delayed for years before actually releasing them. In fact, we reported on the “motion blur” feature spotted in this teardown as something Google was planning for the Pixel 4.

Rounding out the findings, some code supports the idea that Pixel 6 will support Bluetooth microphone sources when recording video. This wouldn’t come as a surprise, as Samsung pushed that feature on its Galaxy Note 20 and further releases. The feature doesn’t work on the Pixel 6 Pro from where this information is being sourced. New details on the previously reported “baby mode” are also mentioned in the report. The code surrounding the feature hints that it may act similar to a “photobooth” feature and take pictures of a baby automatically when enabled. Finally, “Frequent Faces v2” is referenced, hinting that the feature which was introduced on Pixel 4 could see an update of some kind. As it stands today, that feature recognizes the people you photograph most often and prioritizes focus on those subjects in a group.

More on Pixel 6:

Add 9to5Google to your Google News feed.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.