For the past few years, some of the best Google Photos features have either been exclusive to Google Pixel phones or only available to people who pay for the Google One subscription service – but that is all about to change. From 15 May, Google is making several popular editing tools free to all Google Photos users on Android and iPhone, meaning you will be able to do clever AI editing on your snaps completely free of charge, no matter what phone you have.
It means if you have the free Google Photos app you’ll be able to use editing tools such as Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, and Portrait light heart’s content. They use artificial intelligence to let you tweak your photos and improve them, such as with Magic Eraser, which can completely erase people or objects.
This can work really well if you have the perfect holiday snap, apart from the bin in the corner that really harshes your vibe. We’ve tested Magic Eraser extensively on various phones here at Express.co.uk, and it really does work very well. You simply draw a ring around what you want to delete when in the mode, and AI does the rest. It’s not always perfect, but it does a good job of making it look like the thing was never there. Great for getting rid of photobombers, too.
You’ll also get Photo Unblur, which does exactly what it says on the tin. It even works on old photos in your Google Photos library taken on older phones, and will even unblur photos you upload to the app from scans of old physical photos too.
Here’s a full list of the newly free Google Photos editing tools: Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, HDR effect for photos & videos, Portrait blur, Portrait light, Colour pop, Sky suggestions, Cinematic photos, Styles in collage editor, and Video effects.
“Your device must be a Chromebook Plus with ChromeOS version 118+ or have at least 3 GB RAM and Android 8.0/iOS 15 or higher,” Google said in a blog post. This should include your smartphone if it was released in the last five years or so and is updated to the latest software.
This is all great news no matter which phone you have, but there’s even better perks if you have a Pixel phone. Magic Editor, the AI tool that lets you make extensive edits including enlarging or moving object or changing the colour of the sky, is coming to all Pixel phones instead of being exclusive to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.
On top of that, all Google Photos users on Android and iPhone are getting 10 Magic Editor saves per month – so while you can’t use the feature more than tat if you don’t have a Pixel, you can at least get a taste for it.
If you don’t use Google Photos you view your photos on your phone, it’s free and easy to set up. It will work in tandem with your Gallery or Photos app, too. Simply download the Google Photos app and give it access to your photos. It’ll then upload all your snaps, which you can view and edit from the app.
