Google could present the new Pixel 6a in just a few weeks, which will probably come on the market a little earlier than last suspected and reveal more and more details these days. So far, we have only heard good things about the new smartphone, but now there is a small downer: As it became known, the Pixel 6a will not support the new “Motion Mode” of the Google camera.
With the Pixel 6 smartphones, Motion Mode was introduced last year, which is available exclusively in the Google Camera app. This mode allows individual parts of a static image to be displayed in such a way that their movement becomes visible (see the sample images in this article). A nice gimmick that can certainly still be expanded and could play a more important role in the next generations.
On the Pixel 6a, however, the mode will have to pause, because a teardown of the Google Camera app shows that this mode on “bluejay”, so the code name of the Pixel 6a, is explicitly not offered. Of course, this may change in the future, but the fact that such a lock is installed in the app so shortly before the market launch does not bode well. At least in the first few months, the use of this function on the Pixel 6a can probably be ruled out.
The reason is probably the hardware, because the Pixel 6a relies on the same camera chip, but on a changed camera configuration. It is quite possible that the mode with this can not be implemented at all or not satisfactorily. Ultimately, however, this will also be a software and AI thing that does not exclude subsequent submission.