Shawdesh desk:

Take a moment to place yourself back into the early 2010s mentally. The beginnings of Google Cardboard, the exciting new releases of the Samsung Galaxy series smartphones, the relatively new operating system called Android — there are so many unique and exciting moments to choose from. Photo Spheres, a Google Camera-specific feature, was introduced in 2012, and we were extremely excited about it at the time. Now, after an 11-year run at the forefront of our photography minds, Google is removing the mode from Pixel phones with the release of the Google Pixel 8 series.

Way back in 2012, within the Google Camera app, Photo Spheres allowed people to capture a full 360° view of their surroundings. There was no need to take a boring panoramic picture to get a “fuller” look of your perspective, people could genuinely experience the excitement of a location by capturing it from every angle in one go. When using the mode, a number of dots would appear around you through your camera lens, and each time you’d “place” your phone over them, it would take a picture of that angle. After moving all around your position, making sure to point your phone in every way possible, Google Camera would generate a large 360 photo based on all the individual dots you just hovered over.

Capturing a Photo Sphere on the Pixel 7

It was a primitive, but easy and exciting way to make immersive memories of wonderful locations. When Google Cardboard first made a splash in 2014, it made Photo Spheres even more useful. In a nice integration of Google products, you could view Google Sphere pictures in Cardboard headsets, making it feel like you were right back at the spot where you took a Sphere picture. It even worked alongside Google Street View and Google Maps, letting users upload Photo Spheres to Maps for others to see.

However, Photo Spheres has been removed from Google Camera 9.1, as reported by 9to5Google. The Google Pixel 8 series will be shipped with that version, thereby marking an end to the mode’s lifetime. Google provided no explanation for its move, which is a shame. It was never a perfect feature, and it had more than its fair share of bugs, but it was a fun novelty to take full advantage of when you really wanted to go the extra mile to savor the moment.

Interestingly, Google Camera 9.0 — the old version, once the Pixel 8 series releases — still has the feature. This version is still being used by older Pixel releases, such as the Google Pixel 7 series and the Google Pixel Fold. We don’t yet know if those will update to Google Camera 9.1, and if they do, we don’t know if Photo Spheres will be fully removed from these models as well. We can only say for certain that it’s not going to be in the Pixel 8 phones when they hit shelves.

This is certainly a disappointment for some, but the feature lives on — sort of — with the newest Google Meet virtual backgrounds, which make it feel like you’re standing in the middle of a Sphere. No matter what, it’s an exciting time to be in the Google ecosystem, as the Google Pixel 8 is being released worldwide tomorrow, October 12. We’re jealous that some people have already gotten their preorders early. We truly think that the Google Pixel 8 Pro lives up to its name and is the best way to see where the future of Google smartphones lies, while the Google Pixel 8 is more than enough for the masses.