Google Photos: The new editor is here – first for Android

To mark its 10th birthday, Google gave its Google Photos app a major redesign at the end of May. The update brings functions that were previously exclusive to Pixel devices into the app for more users. The redesign of the editor is now available for Android users. It will also be released for iPhones soon.

To make it easier for users to switch from the old to the new design, the company has published a post on its forum in which Google explains how to use the new editor. The post explains that “things look a little different,”but “your favorite tools are still available.”

“AI Enhance” not available in Germany

After selecting an image and pressing the edit button in Google Photos, the tabs “Automatic,” “Actions,” “Highlights,” “Filters,” “Lighting,” and “Color” appear, which house various tools. Contrary to the original announcement that an “AI Enhance” function would be introduced, this feature can only be used in the USA. Instead of this function under “Automatic,” Google has integrated a “Boost” button in other markets, which merely brightens up the image at first glance.

Practical: Some apparently popular functions, such as cropping an image or using the magic eraser to remove or reposition objects, are directly available after opening the editor. The option to crop an image using AI or to reshape it to a different aspect ratio, such as 4:3 or 3:2 is also available without further navigation in the app.

According to Google, the following functions are located in the various tabs:

- Actions: crop, Magic Eraser, Remove Blur, Best Shot and more.
- Mark & Draw: Pen, highlight, and text.
- Filters: Sky and other classic filters.
- Exposure: HDR effect, portrait light, brightness, contrast, and other exposure settings.
- Color: saturation, warmth, and other color settings.

Previously exclusive AI tools for other devices

In addition to the redesign of the Editor, Google is expanding the availability of tools such as “Reimagine” and “Auto Frame,” which were initially only introduced for the Pixel 9 series. In the future, these will be available for all smartphones with Android 8 and newer as well as iPhones.

As Google writes, the new Google Photos Editor is now available on Android devices. As the distribution usually takes place in phases, not all users might have received the update yet. iPhone users still have to be patient: According to Google, the new editor should also be available for iOS “soon.”

(afl)