Were you excited when Google announced the “Add Me” feature for the Pixel 9 series camera? Honestly, my excitement died down as quickly as it had hit me. Truth be told, the “Add Me” feature is pretty impressive – it lets you take group photos and include yourself IN the group. The Pixel does this by scanning your surroundings and the subjects in the frame. After you take the photo, you pass the phone (in the same position) to someone else and walk into the frame. The Pixel 9 will then use AI to “add” you to the existing photo. Sounds really remarkable, right? Well, considering how much 3D scanning and AI calculations are done up front to make this possible, it really is a feat of engineering. There’s one problem, though… You can easily get nearly similar results using the panorama setting of any phone camera.

Before we explain how to do this, we should point out that the Pixel 9’s “Add Me” feature and your camera’s panorama feature work very differently. That means there are different things to consider with both methods, and some potential limitations. But the bottom line is that you do NOT have to be left out of your group photos. You can simply rely on an existing feature on your phone to insert yourself into pictures… without spending a fancy $799-$1099 phone or using a whole lot of AI.

Start the panorama process, then pass the phone to someone else while pulling up the panorama from the right. The little preview window should help you create a perfectly stitched panorama that includes yourself!

As for the Pixel 9’s “Add Me” feature, it’s pretty state of the art and does a job that most people would be pretty impressed with. The phone literally scans the room, separates the subjects from the background, and then adds an additional subject. This way, you can really be part of a photo, even if you’re the one taking it. Just start the capture process, pass the camera to someone else, and stand in the frame you’ve composed. You can stand next to people, behind them, pretend to touch their shoulder, and the AI ​​will do the rest of the work, stitching together multiple data points to seamlessly blend you into the frame. It’s great, but it does have a few drawbacks – aside from the general stitching issues, you need to make sure the phone’s position doesn’t change too much when you take the photo. You also need a Pixel 9 (or later) to run this feature, which is the biggest drawback of all. There is, however, the simple solution of just clicking in panorama mode. The panorama method is ingeniously simple and works on any smartphone (Android or iOS) without updates. Here’s how it works.

The end result looks just as good as the results from Pixel’s Add Me feature… but without the use of AI!

Start the panorama process, but deliberately leave out the part you want to insert yourself into. Then, pass the phone to someone else and have them continue the panorama, but this time with you in it. Press the shutter button after the panorama is assembled, and voilà! You’re actually IN the photo you took! No AI, no fancy camera features, just an ingenious solution to a simple problem. The panorama method works 9 times out of 10, making it a solid alternative to Pixel’s Add Me feature. However, it also has some limitations. Aside from the potential stitching issues, the photos you take must ALWAYS be in landscape orientation (because that’s how panoramas are shot). People in the frame can’t move too much, which could affect stitching—that means you can’t use this feature in a crowd; your background almost always has to be static. The panorama method also only works from left to right, meaning the photographer can only stand to the right of people. Not to the left, and not even behind them. Personally, these limitations seem pretty minor to me when you compare them to the idea of ​​spending $799 on a new phone. I’m also giving myself a year until someone develops a camera app or filter (I’m looking at you, Snapchat) that does exactly the same thing as Pixel’s “Add Me.” Until then, you can just use the panorama method. I promise no one will notice the difference.