Google Photos
Besides being its own app, Google Lens is also available in Image Search, Photos, and integrated across Android. Google is now bringing Lens to the desktop web inside Google Photos for convenient text copying through optical character recognition (OCR).
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Like the original Chromecasts that came before it, the latest model with its Google TV operating system has the ability to display your pictures from Google Photos. However, the Google Photos ambient screensaver on Chromecast has oddly just lost the dates and locations that showed along with the pictures.
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The latest Google Photos AI-powered Memories collection is now highlighting gigs, concerts, and outdoor shows as part of the “In the spotlight” collection — as if the lack of festivals across the globe isn’t depressing enough on its own.
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Google Photos has gone through some serious alterations and edits over the years, but the latest minor but appreciated change is the addition of labels to each of the editing tool icons.
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A brand-new addition to the growing Google Photos Memories collections might have you gasping for a beer as it highlights the best pulled pints and potentially saying “cheers.”
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Google Lens has long been part of Google Photos to help you visually search images. On Android, Google Lens is now a more prominent part of Photos by identifying what pictures would benefit from the analysis and search tool.
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Following last year’s big Android and iOS revamp, Google Photos on the web is getting a matching “Explore” tab and “Favorites” shortcut.
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As part of the Google Photos growing AI-generated Memories collections, a new “Best of Winter 2020” selection is rolling out within the gallery app on Android.
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The AI-generated Google Photos Memories collections continue to grow with a bar game billiards or pool-focused “Let’s Play” grouping for images of you and your friends playing the popular table games.
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Clearly Google wants you to forget about the previous year with a number of brand-new Google Photos Memories collections now rolling out including a sports-focused “Roar of the Crowd,” the beach-focused “Sand and Sea,” and dessert-heavy “Tasty Treats.”
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Google One primarily serves to give you more storage space for Gmail, Drive, and Photos. Last year, the subscription added a VPN and is now providing all Android users with access to “enhanced” Google Photos editing tools and filters that were previously only available on Pixel phones.
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Google Photos “Memories” section is a nice way of surfacing photos and videos that you might have captured, uploaded, and then completely forgotten about. A brand-new collection within Google Photos is now showcasing children-themed Memories called “Out to play.”
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Despite the “Photos” name, the Google Photos app is capable of managing both still images and videos. Now, Google Photos is improving its video capabilities by adding pinch-to-zoom along with a double-tap gesture.
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One of the biggest changes you’ll find in Android 11 is one that sits behind the scenes. Scoped Storage is a major security upgrade for the OS, but it has some slightly irritating side effects. On Google Photos, for example, Android 11 devices put up a second prompt when trying to delete a photo, but now there’s a workaround.
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Back in June, Google thoroughly redesigned Photos with simpler navigation and a long-awaited map view. The revamp was most apparent on phones, but the website also saw some tweaks. Google Photos has now been optimized for Android tablets with an interface that takes better advantage of large screens.
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One of the biggest perks of early Google Pixel smartphones, outside of the camera itself, was the ability to back up every photo and video from the phone to Google Photos in original quality completely for free. Now, though, Pixel 2 owners are losing their unlimited Google Photos backup.
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The latest update to Google Photos points to the app offering a free trial to Google One’s increased storage quota.
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Earlier this month, Google announced that the carousel at the top of Photos would add more memories and designs. Google Photos is now using that to serve your Year in Review and generate a 2020 photo book.
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The end of the year is a time for reminiscing, and Google is doing that in a substantial manner following a team up with Nickelback to release a Photos-themed parody of Photograph.
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Material Gallery is essentially Google Slides for designers wanting to upload mockups and screenshots for collaborative feedback. Google is now moving Material Gallery’s backend to Google Photos early next year.
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Last month, Google briefly mentioned that the Location History-powered Timeline feature in Maps was coming to Photos. The Timeline integration is now rolled out in Google Photos for iOS and Android, along with the ability to change the map layer.
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A Google Photos storage system “mistake” this year resulted in image and video uploads being “inaccurately” counted towards your cloud storage quota. This Photos issue, which is now fixed, was present throughout 2020 and Google is offering a refund for One storage during that period.
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Besides organizing and making your library searchable, Google Photos often generates videos, albums, and other fun works. Google is now creating 3D “Cinematic photos,” while more collage designs and Memories are rolling out.
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After recently hitting the 5 billion download milestone on Android, Google Photos is looking to target the other side of the mobile OS fence with some new features. For those using an iOS device, Google Photos now offers the ability to sync your liked content with Apple Photos.
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