Google Photos is getting some new machine learning-based editing tools that until now were exclusive to Pixel phones – but to get them, you’ll need to pay for Google One, the company’s subscription product that offers up-to-date storage space at your services.
Smart editing – The tools include Portrait Light, Portrait Blur and Color Pop. technically already available to all Google Photos users, even free ones, but the difference is that Pixel owners were able to apply filters to images that do not offer depth data – so you could, for example, add a bokeh blur to the background of a photo taken even from an older camera without native support for it. Now, all paying Google One subscribers can also access this functionality.
Google Photos is considered to be one of the best photo storage and editing apps available. The company has worked hard over the years developing its machine learning capabilities to get the best photos from smartphone cameras that may not be using the latest and greatest sensors. It also won over many consumers because, for years, it offered unlimited storage of slightly compressed images for free … although that will go away later this year.
Google is also introducing new filters today, including a sky suggestion option “that can adjust the horizon and create more dramatic effects. It creates a kind of unnatural look, but you might like it.
No more free – The ads come as Google plans to discontinue free unlimited storage on Google Photos starting June 1. “Original quality” photo storage is currently limited, but users can store unlimited high-resolution photos. This will soon change to a hard limit of 15 GB for all photos, regardless of quality.
Google One’s most affordable plan starts at $ 1.99 a month and offers 100 GB of space on a multitude of company services, from Photos to Drive to Gmail. Higher priced versions include more storage, such as 200 GB for $ 2.99 per month, and perks like access to Google’s VPN on the $ 9.99 per month plan.
It is not surprising that Google will eventually dominate free storage, although some have criticized the move as bait to get people to back up their photo libraries before being forced to pay. At least the company is trying to sweeten the deal a little with new premium features.