This Parent-Friendly Google Pixel Feature Is Making Me Want to Cheat on My iPhone

It’s true: I’ve been an iPhone user for 10+ years. In fact, I was an early adopter, trading in my Blackberry soon after the second generation—the 3G—was released. (#tbt)

The allure, circa 2009? It was always about the photos. After all, the pixelated shots taken by my Blackberry back then could hardly compare to the sharp, vibrant images snapped with the tap of a finger on the mini-computer smartphone in my back pocket.

But there’s one area where the iPhone consistently falls short: nighttime pics. To be honest, I didn’t know what I was missing until I recently had a chance to experience the Google Pixel 3. The camera comes with a “Night Sight” feature that makes it so that any low-lighting situation can be accurately (and brightly) captured without issue. 

As a new mom, I had the perfect situation where I could put it to the test: a sleeping baby. Come on, is there anything more worthy of an after-dark pic than an angelic 14-month-old blissfully asleep? 

But with my regular iPhone camera, there were obstacles. For one thing, my son’s nursery is far too dark to actually see his face while he snoozes. And if I were to—gasp—use the flash, it would wake him up in an instant. (I’d presume—it’s never been worth the risk for me to find out.)

Enter “Night Sight.” To activate it, you simply have to tap and open up the “More” section in the camera app on the Google phone. From there, all you need is a trickle of light from any source—in my case, the hallway—to snap a pic that comes out clear as day. 

I tiptoed in, positioned the camera, and released the shutter. It takes about six seconds for the camera to collect all the available light, so the pressure to keep your hands steady is high. But the result? As I looked at the image in my camera roll, I was floored, especially considering the room was 95 percent dark. (The pic above shows the iPhone shot on the left and the Google Pixel version on the right.)

Will I trade in my iPhone? At this point, I'm not making any promises. Is this the coolest phone feature for new (and snap-happy) parents? Without a doubt.