Post-processing software algorithms have long become the norm for modern smartphone cameras. They brighten night shots, stabilize the picture without special stabilizers and make us more beautiful than we really are. Is it fair? Of course not. But most of us are satisfied with this approach, because in this way the result we dreamed of is achieved for much more sane money. Indeed, for this, manufacturers simply need to customize the software of their smartphones in a special way, instead of supplying them with advanced optics and image processors. But with the release of Android 11, the situation will change slightly.
It seems Android 11 will be a disastrous update for mods
Google decided to limit the scope of algorithms for improving photos of people in Android. With the release of the next version of the OS, the company plans to prohibit smartphone manufacturers from using algorithms that embellish the faces of those being photographed in real time. This decision was made at Google under pressure from the public, who accused the company of conniving at the creation and promotion of false ideals of the human body. In turn, this forces young people to adapt to the imposed standards, often putting their lives and health in danger.
What's wrong with beauty modes
Left – photo without filter, right – with beauty filter
Simply put, Google has declared war on beauty mode. Because of this, the built-in camera algorithms of modern smartphones will no longer be able to automatically beautify faces. That is, the users themselves, if they wish, can tweak the parameters of their face, but their smartphones by default will not be able to do this. Obviously, this step will not go unnoticed, because beauty modes are the norm for most modern smartphones, which have become part of their firmware due to the high popularity among users.
If Google forces manufacturers to abandon beauty modes, it could lead to negative user reviews. After all, it is logical that those who are accustomed to look a little more beautiful than in life thanks to special algorithms will notice that they have begun to get worse on selfies. As a result, this may even turn into a large-scale protest action, in which not only the owners of Chinese smartphones, for whom beauty modes are the norm, will take part, but also many others.
Camera with photoshop
There will be a lot of those who will be unhappy with the disappearance of beauty modes
Is there anything wrong with using the beauty mode that makes the subject more beautiful than life? I don't think so. After all, if we think it's okay to brighten night shots to make them lighter and don't object to blurring the background artificially in portrait shots, why should we be against the camera automatically beautifying selfies and other people's photos we take? After all, if people want to look their best, in no case should they be prevented from doing so. It's not for nothing that Adobe released a camera with Photoshop for Android.
In my opinion, Google has stepped on a very dangerous path. After all, in this case, it is necessary to determine where we will stop? Let's forbid women to wear makeup and forbid men from wearing fitted jackets to make their torso look slimmer. Generally speaking, in this way you can sink to real totalitarian prohibitions, which will cause large-scale downgrades of technologies that have developed over the years for our own good. Therefore, I sincerely hope that Google will come to its senses and abandon this vicious practice, which it plans to implement.