Quantum computing advancements rely heavily on the manipulation of single-rail qubits, which are essential for processing information encoded in light. Researchers have made a breakthrough by utilizing unentangled ancilla single-rail qubits to enhance linear-optical measurements, a crucial step towards overcoming the limitations imposed by weak nonlinearities1. By leveraging an 8-port system, scientists can now perform more sophisticated operations on these qubits, paving the way for arbitrary measurements on information-bearing light. This development has significant implications for the field of quantum optics, as it enables more precise control over quantum states. The lack of strong nonlinearities has long hindered progress in this area, but the introduction of unentangled ancilla qubits offers a promising solution. So what matters to practitioners is that this innovation brings quantum computing a step closer to realizing its full potential for processing and measuring quantum information.