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The new Pixel 4 camera will prioritize the people that matter most to you
- A new camera feature called Frequent Faces is coming to the Pixel 4 devices. It uses Top Shot to recommend photos where your friends and loved ones look the best.
- Users can now take short videos to get photo recommendations from Top Shot instead of just using Motion Photos.
- Top Shot stills selected from short videos will be a significantly lower resolution than ones taken from Motion Photos.
Yesterday, Google announced the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. Today, we learned about more of the device’s camera features that will help you step up your photography game.
One particularly exciting feature is a Pixel 4 exclusive, and it’s called Frequent Faces. As the name alludes, the Pixel 4 camera can identify and recommend better photos of people you frequently photograph.
It does this offline and in tandem with another Pixel 4 camera feature — Top Shot. Top Shot isn’t a Pixel 4 exclusive, but its integration with Frequent Faces is unique to the device.
Frequent Faces only works thanks to Top Shot’s technology. When you use Top Shot to select the best photo in a series, it will give priority to those you frequently photograph. For example, it will recommend the photos where your kids look the best instead of the children they are playing with. This makes sure the people that matter to you the most are the center of attention in your photos.
Related: Google Pixel 4’s astrophotography mode, Live Caption coming to older Pixels
Google is also giving users a new way to take advantage of Top Shot. Instead of relying solely on Motion Photos like in the past, the Google Camera app now allows users to take a short video and select the best still to use as the photo. This assures that you don’t miss those crucial moments you want to capture.
This works similarly to how Top Shot works with Motion Photos. Just tap and briefly hold the capture button. Afterward, open that video, swipe up, and tap “Shots in this video.” Here, you can scroll through stills within the video and pick your favorite as the photo of your choice. According to Google, this Top Shot update will be coming to the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3a as well.
The only downside to using short videos over Motion Photos is the picture quality. Top Shot stills taken from videos will only be 768 x 1,024 resolution, while stills taken from Motion Photos will be 2,048 x 1,536.
Either way, these are great features to have and will surely help users take better photos.