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It may come as a pleasant surprise to owners of a Samsung Galaxy S22 series smartphone to have access to the company’s latest AI features, given that the model dates back to March 2022. This update now makes these flagship camera phones even better.
A month into 2024, the company released their latest Galaxy S24 range of smartphones, with several new features of interest to photographers and videographers – including AI innovations. Samsung has moved quickly since then to enable the technology in other, more affordable and older models in its range, including the S23 series, and now the S22 series, through the update in April of its One UI 6 software to One UI 6.1 – extending Galaxy AI to yet more smartphones and tablets.
Camera app.
The general layout of the camera app is simpler, with Quick settings buttons on the preview screen now more straightforward and intuitive. Custom camera widgets can be added to your Home screen – each can be set to start in a specific shooting mode, and pictures saved in specific albums.
There are now three levels of quality optimisation for photographs: Maximum for the highest quality pictures; Minimum for optimum speed; Medium for a balance between the two.
Photo editing
The AI features relevant to we photographers are the “Edit Suggestions” for photos. Features are recommended for an image or video in view, and can be executed quickly and easily to iimprove image quality, delete unwanted objects, and edit background blur.
Generative edit has new, powerful ways of editing photos. People and things in them can be moved, removed, realigned and resized. You name it. A big one is that new background can be created to fill in missing space. There is also “Instant Slow-mo” which can generate additional frames for slow-motion videos for capturing dramatic moments. And AI processing is behind “Nightography”, which ensures colour vibrancy and fine details in low light.
New Auto frames per second (FPS) options for videos
Auto FPS allows for recording of brighter videos in low-light conditions. Auto FPS now has three options: 1. Off. 2. Use for 30 fps videos only. 3. Use for both 30 fps and 60 fps videos. It also uses Generative AI to power generative film.
Other models encompassed by the software update now include: the Galaxy Z Fold4 and Galaxy Z Flip4 foldable phones, and now the Galaxy Tab S8, the affordable Galaxy A14 and the Galaxy M04.
There is a decent simulation available for those who want to try it before committing. Called the “Try Galaxy” app, it represents a Galaxy S24 home screen with tutorials and interactive content for the curious.
How to update your Samsung phone to the latest version:
On your phone: go to settings, by pulling down from the top of the screen, and clicking the cog icon. Scroll down to software update, click “Download and install” and if the update is available for your phone, you should see an option to update your phone to One UI 6.1. You can also read full details on what the update does.
*There have been early reports from consumers of problems with short video clips after downloading the update, particularly in the S23 Ultra – enough to take them seriously. It is worth keeping abreast of these before opting for the update.
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