Pro camera controls work fine on Pixels that aren't an 8 Pro, so why limit them?

The Google Pixel 8 Pro launched last week. It has many exclusive features, including Video Boost and 5x optical zoom. It also comes with a first for any Pixel phone: professional camera controls. Interestingly, this feature is not scheduled to come to any other Pixel, not even the regular Pixel 8.

When we asked Google if these Google Pixel pro camera controls would come to other Pixels, it told us it would take a wait-and-see approach. However, frequent leaker (and sometimes Android Authority contributor) Kamila Wojciechowska took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to prove that nothing is stopping Google from sending pro controls to other Pixel phones.

In a series of posts, Kamila shows the Google Pixel 8’s pro camera controls working on a Pixel 7 Pro. Furthermore, she posits that any Tensor-powered Pixel could, theoretically, use these controls.

In other words, the only thing stopping Google from sending out pro controls to other recent Pixels is Google itself.

Of course, Kamila did hit some roadblocks. For example, the shutter speed on the Pixel 7 Pro is limited to eight seconds, while the Pixel 8 Pro can go as long as 16 seconds. So, it’s not a 1:1 transfer of features.

Still, it appears it wouldn’t take that much work for Google to bring Pixel pro camera controls to at least the 7 Pro, if not all other Tensor Pixels. Hopefully, Google does just that. After all, it never said it wouldn’t; it just said it had no plans to as of now. Hopefully, the response to this news will give Google an idea of whether or not it should invest the time to do it.