The Google Pixel 8 and 8 Pro have been receiving high praise for their exceptional camera capabilities. However, recent reports have uncovered a peculiar bug affecting tap exposure, which hinders users from adjusting an image’s exposure by tapping on the viewfinder, particularly at the default 1x zoom level.

Pixel cameras are renowned for their outstanding image processing features and user-friendly interface. Nevertheless, a bug reported by 9to5Google and brought to light by a Reddit user seems to be causing disruptions in what would otherwise be a seamless experience. According to the reports, tapping anywhere on the screen at 1x zoom does not properly adjust the image’s exposure, resulting in photos that are either overexposed or underexposed.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that adjusting the zoom level slightly above or below the standard 1x, such as to 0.9x or 1.1x, miraculously brings back the tap exposure feature. This inconsistency suggests that this bug is most likely unintentional rather than by design.

This bug also affects exposure adjustment after a photo has been taken, meaning that users won’t be able to recover lost details post-processing, even when editing the RAW version. Fortunately, there is a workaround for this issue: zoom in slightly, tap to activate auto exposure, and then zoom back out to 1x.

The bug has been confirmed by 9to5Google to affect both the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro cameras on version 9.2.113.600672654.18. As of now, Google has not acknowledged the bug, although a bug report has been filed.

While this bug may not seem significant at first glance, it does interfere with the Pixel camera’s primary focus on being user-friendly and reliable. Hopefully Google will take prompt action to resolve this issue and fix this bug via a software patch. Stay tuned for updates on this matter!