Did you know? Samsung’s Galaxy camera app now has a ‘Moon mode’

Although Samsung is undeniably one of the best brands when it comes to smartphone cameras, there's no denying that the company is lagging behind its competitors in specific areas. For example, Google offers a fairly decent astrophotography camera mode on its Pixel phones whereas Samsung doesn't. But did you know that Samsung is halfway there?

Some of you might not be aware of this rather hidden feature but many Samsung phones running One UI 2.5 (and, naturally, One UI 3.0 as well) do have a so-called Moon mode. It's not a stand-alone / dedicated camera mode but instead it's integrated with Scene Optimizer. This means that unless you've pointed your smartphone's camera at the Moon before, you're probably unaware of this feature's existence.

How does Samsung's Moon mode work?

Poorly would be one way of putting it. Or rather lackluster. It's not that the idea itself is inherently bad but the implementation leaves something to be desired. Sure, Scene Optimizer can quickly pick up whether or not you're pointing your camera at the Moon but the final results aren't all that different compared to shots that were captured without Moon mode/Scene Optimizer turned on.

Perhaps this is the reason why Samsung has seemingly released this One UI 2.5 feature without building any hype around it. It's just not that spectacular. Then again, it might represent the beginning of a full-fledged astrophotography mode so we won't hold it against Samsung. Besides, even if it won't become a part of something bigger eventually, the mode could very well improve with future updates.

Were you aware of the camera's Moon mode — or rather, moon detection in the camera's Scene Optimizer feature —  that's available with One UI 2.5 for some Galaxy devices, or is this the first time you're hearing about it? What are your thoughts on this feature and how do you think Samsung should improve it? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.