A new update for the Google Pixel 5 and Google Pixel 4a 5G allows users to turn off automatic night-sight mode.

According to 9to5Google, version 8.1.200 of the camera app for both Pixel models, which began rolling out this week, allows users to turn off the low-light photography feature. It also gives users more control over the camera's flash settings.

Night Sight on Pixel phones is an excellent way to take reasonably bright pictures in low light situations. However, on the new Pixel, this mode is set to activate automatically when Google's smart software detects that the scene is not bright enough.

In a way, this is a really useful feature because it means you don't have to go into another camera mode to shoot in low-light scenarios. However, it can be a bit frustrating at times, as sometimes you want to take artistically dark pictures.

Before the update, I had to manually turn off Auto Night Sight every time I used the camera app. In a world accustomed to things being intuitive and quick to use, it can be increasingly frustrating to have to tweak the camera settings to your liking every time you use the Pixels camera app.

With the update, that is no longer the case; the Pixel 5 and 4a 5G now allow users to permanently disable automatic night vision mode.

And it's easy to access. Tap the drop-down menu at the top of the camera app and you will see a new option called "More Light."

From there, you can turn on/off the auto night mode and turn on/off the flash. These options work in portrait camera mode just as they do in regular camera mode.

This is a minor tweak, but a good example of Google trying to make the Pixel phone and software experience as intuitive as possible without compromising on giving people options.

Admittedly, the Pixel 5's two rear cameras do not give it the breadth of smartphone photography capabilities that Samsung's Galaxy S21's triple rear camera array does. However, both the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a XL offer very impressive photos, despite being documentally behind the iPhone 12 Pro and other flagship smartphone camera systems.

Ultimately, we would like to see a refreshed camera experience in the next Google phone, perhaps the Pixel 6. However, these small tweaks show that Google is continually working to improve the software side of smartphone cameras.