Yes, some smartphones and camera apps do allow more manual control, including exposure settings, white balance, and even RAW/DNG capture on certain models. Third-party apps may also offer longer-exposure options than the default camera app.

That said, the bigger limitation for night-sky photography is usually sensor and lens size, not just exposure control. Phone cameras have very small sensors and lenses, so they collect much less light than larger cameras. Even if a phone supports long exposures, image noise builds up quickly, which limits quality.

For better results, phones may rely on techniques like averaging or image stacking to reduce noise, but this still has limits for true astrophotography. So: manual control helps, but hardware is the main constraint. A phone can produce acceptable night images in some cases, but it generally won’t match a larger-sensor camera for the night sky.