Like every year, Google’s Pixel 10 doubles down on its photography prowess with a range of hardware and software features aimed at capturing better images, no matter the circumstances.
However, good photography is equal parts hardware and framing. To solve that skill gap, the Pixel 10 series is launching with a new feature called Camera Coach that is aimed at changing the way people take photos on their phones.
Instead of relying on generative AI or computational photography, Camera Coach takes an educational route.
The tool uses the phone’s onboard Gemini AI to analyze ambient scenes in real time and guides users with tips, reference shots, and suggestions to improve their photography frame.
The goal isn’t just a great shot, but to improve the standard of photography through better composition and framing.
Here’s how Camera Coach works
Real-time tips, AI-based inspiration, and spatial awareness
At its most basic level, Camera Coach is essentially a photography tutor built into the Pixel Camera app.
When the feature is switched on, it analyzes the scene you are trying to photograph and offers instructions on how to better capture the scene.
This could mean adjusting the angle at which you are shooting the photograph, moving closer to the subject, switching to a different Portrait Mode, or even asking people in the photo to look at the camera lens. It’s surprisingly intelligent.
But that’s not all. There’s a built-in mode that gives you further inspiration for the kind of images you can capture.
This mode generates example photos using generative AI to show you visually the kind of images you can capture. You can then pick one, and the app will guide you through the steps and changes you should make to capture an image similar to the example.
For people who struggle with imagining creative compositions on the spot, this could be the gentle nudge they need to try something new and break free from the standard point-and-shoot routine.
This could be the gentle nudge you need to try something new and break free from the standard point-and-shoot routine.
Built on top of Gemini AI, the feature also understands scene context and can make suggestions based on ambient lighting, or perhaps a different perspective if you are shooting food at a restaurant.
Elsewhere, the coach might recommend switching to the ultrawide lens when shooting landscapes.
Over time, this feedback can help users discover new ways of framing their own shots, get better at photography, and even develop their own style.
It’s less about AI doing the work for you and more about helping you observe a different approach to making a shot stand out, which in itself is a pretty refreshing change from how we’ve seen AI applied so far.
Camera Coach has its advantages
A surprisingly useful teaching aid
Unlike some of the other AI features on the Pixel 10, like Magic Cue, Camera Coach is fairly simplistic. However, it serves a very specific purpose.
Rather than encouraging editing, cropping into images, or adding to them with generative AI after the photo has been shot, it helps at the point of capture.
The entire goal here is to encourage users to think about composition and technique.
This is valuable for users who might not always be the best photographers, but expect great photos from their phones.
It allows newcomers to dive into photography without spending hours looking at tutorials to improve their game.
Not just newcomers, I can also see it being a helpful tool for seasoned photographers to get inspiration to break out of a rut.
Not just newcomers, I can also see it being a helpful tool for seasoned photographers to get inspiration to break out of a rut.
While most users would see it as a helpful assistant that is making photography more accessible, it could come across as a gimmick to be used once or twice by others.
However, as far as AI tools go, Camera Coach highlights Google’s direction with the Pixel 10.
Instead of just delivering hardware upgrades or bigger numbers, Camera Coach and Magic Cue are both designed to make the camera feel more collaborative.
The tools are creativity and productivity accelerators instead of replacements. And that’s a very big difference.
AI as a coaching tool, not just another gimmick
Camera Coach is one of those tools that might not see too much use. Despite that, it is a clear sign that Google sees the smartphone camera as more than just a point-and-shoot tool.
It is a bona fide creativity tool and the only camera for most.
By combining AI, live scene analysis, and coaching driven by tried and tested photography principles, the Pixel 10 doesn’t just aim to make your next photograph better. It is trying to teach you what makes that photograph better.
A good coach doesn’t just help you capture a good image. It gives you the tools to repeat that process, and that’s exactly what you’re getting here.
It remains to be seen if it gets serious adoption or remains a curiosity, but Camera Coach represents a big step forward towards using AI as a context-aware assistant in creativity instead of a replacement for creativity.
If nothing else, it proves that AI on phones can serve other creative purposes than rephrasing text or generating cartoon images.
