Android 16 will be set to add a new “Night Mode Indicator API” that will essentially help your camera and social apps recognize low-light situations. Depending on your current phone, chances are the default camera already knows when your phone is trying to take pictures in low light. In being able to recognize this, the camera can adjust to deliver a better end result for the photo.
In some cases, like with Instagram, the app knows when the environment doesn’t have much light and will suggest using the Night Mode camera extension. This works on several different phone models as long as they support camera extensions. You’ll find this on devices like Google’s Pixel phones from the Pixel 6 onward, as well as some of Samsung’s more recent devices. Such as the Galaxy Z Flip 6.
The Android 16 Night Mode Indicator API will give three different outcomes
Details about this new API in Android 16 were spotted by Mishaal Rahman, who states that the API will give three different outcomes. The first is Unknown, and this value would pop up if the API is unable to recognize the lighting conditions. If the API can’t tell whether or not your camera app would benefit from using the Night Mode extension, then you would get this value.
Then there are the Off and On values. Off is what the API provides when the lighting conditions of the environment are already decent. Resulting in there being no need to use the Night Mode extension. Rahman notes that the extension would still be available and usable though. What’s interesting is that in this case, using the Night Mode extension may not be the best solution, because it might not be able to optimize the photo to improve it.
With the On value, a low-light scene is recognized by the camera and it’s suggested to use Night Mode so the photo comes out looking like there was enough light.
Users could see this available as early as June 2025
This is purely speculation, but it’s possible that the API could be integrated into apps as early as June 2025. This is the expected rollout time for Android 16’s launch. Google has already confirmed that developers can learn more about this API and other upcoming features with the Android 16 Preview Program. So it’s reasonable that this API could be usable by devs prior to the launch of this new Android version next Summer.
That being said, there’s also no guarantee apps will make use of this API right away.
