This week, a new range of Google smartphones capable of AI image generation has been launched. But for an increasing number of people, the appeal of a less cutting-edge piece of equipment is proving hard to resist: the point-and-shoot camera. The US footballer Megan Rapinoe was seen snapping from the stands at the Paris Olympics. The model Alexa Chung captioned a recent Instagram of her with a camera: "Just another Millennial with a dependency on Snappy Snaps, fighting digital threat with an analogue mode. " A recent glimpse of home life for Rihanna and A AP Rocky showed a disposable camera lying among the clutter.

Smartphones may have effectively killed off dedicated point-and-shoot cameras, but Apple is looking to them for inspiration with iOS 11. Developers have dug through beta firmware for the HomePod, and tucked inside the code for Apple's smart speaker, there are hints that the next version of its mobile OS will feature something called "SmartCam." It will tune camera settings based on the scene it detects pic.twitter.com/7duyvh5Ecj If you've ever used a point-and-shoot camera, the feature should sound pretty familiar: different scene modes and photo settings depending on what you're shooting. The "smart" in its name suggests that maybe machine learning will play a role here as well, potentially analyzing the scene for you and picking the best settings. This might not use machine learning to improve photography a la what Google does with the Pixel, but it could make Apple's woefully basic camera app a little more full featured.