Google is adding some of its flashy, Pixel-exclusive editing features to Google Photos for all Android users to enjoy today, but there’s one benefit: if you do not have a Pixel, you need a paying Google One be a subscriber. use it.
Rumors have been circulating for some time about the editing features being paid for, but today is the official announcement of the new program. Specifically, Google is offering some of its more recent machine-learning editing tools, such as the enhanced Portrait Blur, Portrait Light, and Color Pop features it launched last fall with the Pixel 5 for a wider audience.
As Google made clear to The edge when the paywall was first discovered, the company did not take away existing versions of features such as Portrait Blur or Color Pop from free Google Photo users. The current version of the features – which work with newer photos that provide in-depth data, such as a portrait mode recording – will still work for everyone.
But the new version of Pixel and only a subscription promises to take things a step further and enable users to apply the effects (through the power of machine learning) to older photos that do not have the existing depth data not. Pixel users will still have free access to the features, regardless of whether they sign in to Google One.
Along with the new editing features, Google also offers new AI-powered filters: a new “dynamic” option that automatically improves brightness and contrast, and “air suggestions” that can adjust the skyline for more dramatic effects.
Google One subscriptions start at $ 1.99 per month and focus primarily on expanding storage for Google services (the base plan, for example, provides 100 GB of space over the 15 GB of free storage). Google also offers additional benefits to subscribers to slow down the transaction, such as Google Store rewards – the new editing features of Google Photos are likely to be part of the plan.
It’s also worth noting that Google is expanding its photo-focused offerings with Google One, just months before the end of its free unlimited Google Photos storage program. This means that the company is likely to push Google One as a solution for users who need more. storage space for their photos.
Finally, Google has announced that it will introduce some feature parity between its iOS and Android versions of the app. The Android version is set to get the improved video editor that Google is already offering for iOS in the coming weeks, and the iOS version will be updated to include the new photo editor that Google launched this past fall in the coming months has, to receive.