Google announced in February that it would add new video editing tools to the Photos app, but these updates only first appeared on iOS devices. Now, according to Android Police, Google launches the same tools for Android users.
New editing tools allow users to apply more granular edits to videos, such as brightness, contrast, saturation and heat. I’m more than 30 checks in total now, including trimming, stabilizing, adding filters, changing perspectives.
Even better news: the update seems to be an update on the server, so every Android user should eventually receive the update, not just the pixel owners. If the update didn’t hit your phone automatically, you should be able to find the Google Photos app in the Google Play Store and update it from there. The update appeared for us when we checked a Samsung Galaxy Note 9, Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G and a Pixel 3a XL.
While these new video editing tools are free, many of the new photo editing tools that come with the update are not. Google One subscribers only will have access to more advanced features on Pixel phones, such as Portrait Blur, Portrait Light and Dynamic suggestions. (And you’ll need Android 8.0 or later to access them.) Blur and Color Pop are still available to everyone.
These photo editing tools haven’t made their way to iOS yet, not even for the latest version of iOS. (I confirmed on an iPhone 12.)
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In addition, starting June 1, all high-quality photos and videos you upload to Google Drive will be considered for your storage. Those you uploaded before this limit will not consider your limit. Google One subscription start at $ 3 a month or $ 30 a year for 200 GB, which isn’t too bad, since you only get 15 GB free to get started. And if you back up your photos to a local, secondary drive, you won’t need to upgrade unless you care about the editing tools behind the payment screen.