Google pushed out the final build of the beta for Android 8.1 on Monday, and it’s available to all Pixel models, as well as the Nexus 6P and 5X. This latest beta is nearly identical to what we’ll see in the public version next month, and it enables the Visual Core co-processor within the Pixel 2 and 2 XL, which had not been used until now.
The Pixel Visual Core accomplishes two things: faster, more efficient processing of HDR+ photos, and the ability to take HDR+ photos in third-party camera apps in tandem with the Android Camera API. This means photos captured in apps outside the stock camera interface — think Instagram and Snapchat, among others — should look significantly better than before.
The transformation is striking. When you’re looking through the viewfinder of a third-party app, you’ll see a grainy mess. But press the shutter button, and for a split-second you can actually watch Google’s post-processing being applied, lifting the entirety of the frame.
