Google today announced it has started rolling out Android 4.4.1 for the Nexus 5. The update is supposed to improve the camera on the company’s latest flagship device.
The Android 4.4.1 update is supposed to improve the camera from all angles. Google is promising faster focusing (especially in low light), faster white balancing, the ability to pinch-zoom the viewfinder in HDR+ mode, and less shutter lag.
For those who don’t know, the Nexus 5 comes with an HDR+ mode that automatically snaps a rapid burst of photos and combines them to give you the best possible single shot. The company has been touting HDR+ on Nexus 5 ever since the device’s debut, but users have complained about varying quality in the photos taken with its camera.
Now the company says “a fresh update to the camera” is rolling out with Android 4.4.1, and it is underlining the feature once more:
HDR+ lets you to take great shots in challenging environments, say where there’s a large contrast of bright and dark portions of the scene and also in low light situations. When you press the shutter button, instead of taking just one picture, we take a burst of shots in about 1/3 of a second, and apply computational photography to intelligently fuse images together.
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In our Nexus 5 review, Editor-in-Chief Martin Bryant said the HDR+ mode is good for automatically snapping a clear shot in daylight, but in low light, it still struggles. Hopefully Google has managed to address the issues with just a software update.
Earlier today, The Verge broke the news that the Nexus 5 would be getting camera fixes in Android 4.4.1. Nobody predicted the update would be out today, and yet Google says it is rolling out now.
Some Nexus 4 users have complained about their own separate issues after upgrading to Android 4.4 KitKat. We’ll be watching closely to see when Android 4.4.1 arrives for other devices.
See also – Google’s Nexus 5 ships today: 4.95-inch display, Android 4.4 KitKat, 16GB for $349 and 32GB for $399 and Nexus 5 vs. Nexus 4: What’s new?
Top Image Credit: Google
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