Google Photos update brings advanced video editing features

Google Pixel 5
(Image credit: Future)

Google Photos is a great way to back up and store photos you've taken on your phone or tablet, and it also offers you ways to edit them - soon, videos will be subject to a wide range of editing tools too, as a new update for the Google service is rolling out.

Google previously detailed its new video editing tools but didn't give a time frame for when we'd see them - it still hasn't, but according to XDA Developers, people are reporting that they've found the new features in their phone.

It seems likely, then, that the new Google Photos update is slowly rolling out with certain countries or devices getting it first - it seems likely, though, that most users will be able to get the video editing software in the coming weeks.

What new features are here?

While the new Google Photos update won't exactly give you a portable Premiere Pro or Avid workstation, it'll be useful for sprucing up videos with minor errors.

You'll be able to crop videos, either to certain aspect ratios or however you want, as well as rotate or tilt perspective on them. You can mark up the video, perhaps useful if you're making a tutorial, or add filters and stickers.

Perhaps the most professional-grade tool here is the ability to adjust the brightness and color settings like warmth, saturation, highlights and more, to tweak the look of a video.

XDA Developers also mentions the ability to stabilize video, which would be super useful for clips shot on the go, but an accompanying video shows no evidence of this feature.

The new Google Photos update won't change your life, but it'll be really useful for people who like shooting videos and want to make the most of them.

Tom Bedford
Contributor

Tom Bedford was deputy phones editor on TechRadar until late 2022, having worked his way up from staff writer. Though he specialized in phones and tablets, he also took on other tech like electric scooters, smartwatches, fitness, mobile gaming and more. He is based in London, UK and now works for the entertainment site What To Watch.


He graduated in American Literature and Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Prior to working on TechRadar, he freelanced in tech, gaming and entertainment, and also spent many years working as a mixologist. He also currently works in film as a screenwriter, director and producer.