Google Photos for iOS gets upgraded video editor w/ filters, cropping, and more

Abner Li | Aug 31 2020 - 12:10 pm PT

Google is working on a redesigned image editing experience for Photos on Android. At the same time, the video editor in Google Photos for iOS now has access to a wider range of tools.

On Android today, video editing options are limited to stabilizing, rotating, and adjusting start/stop. Users can also export the current frame.

Google Photos for iOS takes that a step further with the edit button launching a UI with four items in the bottom bar. The playback tab lets you adjust clip length, as well as ` and export frame. From here, you can also scrub the video to preview applied edits.

Filters are next and more or less match the themes available when editing pictures. Tapping applies, while another click presents a slider to adjust intensity. “Original” is to the left, followed by “Auto.”

Next up is the ability to granularly adjust Light (exposure, contrast, whites, highlights, shadows, blacks, vignette) and Color (saturation, warmth, tint, skin tone, deep blue).

Lastly, you can crop. This includes manual options, as well as presets (square, 16:9, 4:3, 3:2) and adjust rotation. A button to “Save copy” appears at the top-right corner after making any change.

This editor distinctly leverages the original interface, and not the one in development for Android that we enabled last week. The new Google Photos video editor for iOS rolled out some time ago, but the company only made it official with version 5.8 today:

We’ve introduced new features to the video editor to enhance your video editing experience. Now you can easily apply light and color adjustments, filters, and more. Using the video scrubber, you can preview any edits applied throughout the video.