Moment Pro Camera app gets Pixel Visual Core support

By Chris Burns/Aug. 2, 2018 12:59 pm EST

This week the folks behind the app Moment Pro Camera adopted the powers of the Pixel Visual Core. This means that the app finally makes use of the hardware-accelerated processing power of the Google Pixel 2. This upgrade can be utilized by all camera apps on Android, but only a few have specifically targeted Google Pixel 2 devices right out the gate.

If an app targets Android API level 26, there's a chance it'll be able to use the Google Pixel Visual Core. Instagram, WhatsApp, and Snapchat began using the Google Pixel Visual Core in February of 2018. This means that any of these apps – when properly updated (and with the Pixel 2 properly updated), is potentially far better at HDR+ than any other smartphone – but that's really up to the end user, as it is with all photography situations.

Below you'll see the update set of details from Moment Pro Camera as released this week. Moment Pro Camera costs around $2 USD for the end user and provides a camera interface that's ever-so-slightly more versatile than that of the standard Google Android camera app. Have a peek at the app on the Google Play app store and let us know what you think.

What's New

• HDR+ for Pixel devices! Tap on the format button (JPEG/RAW) to select the new format HDR+ that will use Pixel Visual Core

• Moment Pro Camera as your default camera

• Camera Roll photo detailed view now shows a map with a marker pointing to the location if available

• Performance: Viewfinder grid drawing frequency improvement

• Bugfix: Minor camera roll improvements

• Bugfix: Latest versions major crash reports and improvements to generate better reports

You might also want to take a peek at the Moment lens collection for Google Pixel 2. We used them with the first Pixel – and they work just as well with the second. Especially when you're going wild with the app, it's HDR super up-close or enhanced fish-eye times.

Those developers that wish to make use of the Google Pixel visual core can do so starting with the Google Open Source documentation available to the public. This software enhancement currently works only for the Google Pixel 2 and the Google Pixel 2 XL.