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Google brings its fancy Motion Stills GIF-making app to Android
Motion Stills has existed in a strange space for the past year. It's a Google-made app but it's been available only on iOS, piggybacking off Apple's Live Photos function to create dramatic, stabilized GIFs and short videos. Android owners, Google's main user base, were left out of the fun entirely -- until today.
Google Photos' AI-powered sharing is now available
Google is making good on its promise of AI-assisted photo sharing. A Google Photos upgrade arriving this week uses machine learning to suggest pictures based on both your own sharing habits, the people in the photos, and whether or not they're part of a "meaningful moment," such as a party or a wedding. You might not have to remember to share photos of your best friend when you get home from a big weekend shindig. You can customize who receives the photos, of course, and fellow Google Photos users can get reminders to add their photos to the relevant album.
Google Photos archiving rolls out with AI-powered suggestions
The new Archive feature recently spotted in Google Photos is now rolling out to all users, but it has an extra trick. While the Archive button lets you push more mundane photos (scans of receipts, screenshots of a random tweet, or maybe particularly personal photograph) out of the main Photos display without deleting it, there's also a new suggestion in the Assistant tab that will use its machine learning skills to find likely candidates for you. Of course, you can manually archive photos any time you like (they'll still show up in search or inside albums), but if you already have a significant Photos catalog this should make things easier. Whether you're using Android, iOS or the website, the new option should be there.
Now you can design Google Photo Books on iOS or Android
Among the many things Google announced at I/O 2017 last week, one of them was the ability for people to create and order physical albums with Google Photos. The only problem with that, however, is you could only use it through a desktop browser. Thankfully, the search giant has updated its Photos app on iOS and Android to support the new feature, letting you use your mobile device to easily order a book of your favorite images -- which can be created automatically using Google's AI.
Google Photos adds an archive button to declutter your stream
Google Photos has been gently nudging users to store and share more on its service lately. Earlier this month, the Photos team unveiled some AI-powered sharing suggestions and a Google Lens integration that will make its image recognitions even smarter. But the latest update is a much simpler one meant to keep your photos in Google's cloud without crowding up your main stream.
Google simplifies sharing notes, calendars and photos with family
Google knows that a large part of its customer base probably have families. That's why it introduced a family plan option to Google Music a couple of years ago, as well as Family Library sharing for the Play Store last year. When YouTube TV launched a few weeks ago, you could add up to five additional family members to your plan from the start. Now, Google is ready to add family-friendly features to even more of its products; namely: Calendar, Keep and Photos. With Calendar, this means that you can now have a shared family calendar with everyone's schedules in one place. A shared Keep account means you can share shopping lists and notes so that everyone's on the same page. And finally, a shared Photos group means that anyone in the family can add photos and videos to the same album without much hassle. To be fair, these are all features that you could already do before; Google is just making it that much easier with a pre-rolled family group that you can create right from the start. These family sharing features will roll out starting today in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, the UK and the US.
Google Lens resurfaces questions about AI and human identity
Today at the company's annual developer conference, Google CEO Sundar Pichai uttered a phrase that will no doubt be repeated in corporate boardrooms across the world for the foreseeable future: "AI first." It wasn't the first we've heard of the formerly "mobile-first" company's focus on artificial intelligence, but Google I/O 2017 marked the first time we saw many of the tools that will back up that new catchphrase.
Google Photos' improved AI pesters you into sharing pictures
Google is adding ways to make photo sharing from Google Photos a lot easier. And guess what? It's powered by AI. The feature is called Suggested Share, which will remind you to share photos and even suggest the people you should share them with. The app will have a new sharing tab; it will rifle with all the stuff you've taken and then use machine learning to discover who you should send them to. And to ensure sharing happens regardless of recipient, Photos uses SMS to send shareable links, no app install required for your friends.
Google Lens is a powerful, AI-driven visual search app
Google Lens is a set of vision-based computing capabilities that allows your smartphone to understand what's going on in a photo, video or live feed. For instance, point your phone at a flower and Google Lens will tell you, on the screen, which type of flower it is; or, aim the camera at a restaurant sign to see reviews and other information pop up. The new AI system is heading to Google Photos and Assistant first.
Google Assistant is expected to hit iOS and washing machines
Google's voice-controlled Assistant has only been available on Android and Home so far, but it might just spread its wings in the very near future. To start, Bloomberg tipsters claim that Google will use its I/O developer conference to launch Assistant on iOS as a free app. It wouldn't have the deep integration that comes with Android, but you could use it to access content available in YouTube and other Google apps. The app would only be available in the US at first, but you might not mind so much when the same sources also hint that Assistant will also provide a boost to Google Photos and appliances.
Google Photo's Mother's Day video tool is no substitute for a card
Google often likes to dip its toes into holidays and notable days to remind everyone what its apps can do (and could you use them, please?), and it's recently added a special Mother's Day assistant to its Photos app. Given that Google selects the photos and cuts it all together, it's possibly the lowest-effort Mother's Day 'gift' if you've totally forgotten and / or have no intention of buying a genuine card or seeing mom in person next weekend. (But seriously, you have a week and two days left to sort something, pull it together.)
Google Photos for iOS beams images to your TV with AirPlay
Google has been improving its Photos app for a while now, adding features like automatic white balance, compensation for wobbly video, social photo editing tools and even improving Apple's own Live Photos. The one thing it's been missing, however, is the ability to send your photos and videos to an Apple TV right from the app using AirPlay. That's been remedied, though, with a new update that's available to download right now from the App Store.
Google Photos will make your shaky videos watchable
Google's Photos app has long been compensating for wobbly Live Photos taken with an iPhone. Now it can do same for any video in your device. The tech titan has begun rolling out Photos' long-awaited video stabilizer, according to Android Police, which has already tested it out. To use it, simply click the pen icon while viewing a video within the app and tap the new feature's button right next to "Rotate."
Google improves Photos and Duo for lousy connections
Google's been pretty busy this week. It added a location-sharing feature to the Maps app, started allowing sports teams and artists to post directly to its search results, teased us with a preview of Android O and vowed to make sure all Android phones are updated quickly. But it's not done. The company also introduced ways to improve the speed of its Photos and Duo apps, even when network signals are weak.
Google Photos automatically fixes your pictures' white balance
Google Photos is one of the more hidden jewels of the company's software family -- especially if you snagged a Pixel phone and unlimited storage. A way of storing all your photos online (and making them delightfully searchable thanks to machine learning), the service is getting smarter, yet again. The latest addition to auto-correcting exposure and color saturation is white balance. Select a 'look' when editing photos through the web or on the Android app, and Google's magic will ensure your whites are naturally whiter, whether that means removing some yellow or adjusting the blues. (That's what we mean by white balance. See scientific corgi example above.) For those that like to be in control, you can still tweak the balance manually with some sliding controls in the Color subsection, under Warmth and Tint.
Google brings its soothing Featured Photos screensaver to Mac
The same slick screensaver that brightens up unused screens with popular Google+ photos on the Pixel, Chromecast and Google Fiber devices is now available to keep your Mac occupied as well. With the newly released Featured Photos screensaver, you can finally turn your Mac into a photography gallery featuring some of the most highly rated shots from Alphabet's oft-overlooked social network.
Google's new PhotoScan app makes it easy to digitize old prints
On the surface, Google Photos has a simple mission: to store all your pictures. Specifically, Google says it wants the service to be a home for all of your photos, and today that mission expanded to encompass the old photos you took on a point-and-shoot back in the '90s. The company just released an app called PhotoScan for iOS and Android, and it promises to make preserving the memories in your old printed photos much easier. Additionally, while Google was at it, it also issued several updates to its core Photos app.
Google's arty filters one-up Prisma by mixing various styles
Basic filters are soooo last year, and Google knows it. It's all about turning your mundane pet photos into works of art now, spearheaded by popular mobile app Prisma. Since it launched earlier this year, Prisma's added an offline mode and video support (albeit after a me-too competitor), but just a few days ago Facebook revealed it's also working on style transfer tech for live video -- though Prisma says it's going to beat the social network to the punch in a matter of days. Now, Google has revealed it's going one better, detailing a system that can mix and match multiple art styles to create photo and video filters that are altogether unique.
Google Photos will animate your videos too
The latest AI-powered upgrade for Google Photos brings four tricks. In a blog post today, we learned about four new features for the service, including the simplest one, which autodetects sideways pictures and prompts you to correct them. Two others dig into its talent for facial recognition, as it will detect people in your new photos, and offer to "rediscover old memories" of those same people in older pics, or, it can pop up a highlight reel showcasing the best pictures of a frequent subject.
Google's Pixel phones arrive with full-res photo and video storage
In addition to unveiling its new Pixel phones at its big keynote today, Google revealed that its new handsets will come with unlimited cloud storage for full-resolution pictures and videos. That's a big deal if you plan to take advantage of the devices' 4K shooting capabilities and shoot stills at full 12.3-megapixel resolution. It's worth noting that the company already offers something similar with Google Photos, but the current arrangement still doesn't necessarily guarantee images will be saved at their fullest resolution.
