Google’s AI-powered photo editing tools can instantly make any image look much better by removing photobombers, enhancing the light source, or blurring faces with just a few taps.
Until now, this has been reserved for Pixel phone users like the Pixel 8, but the company recently announced that it would be bringing these features to all Google Photo users, on both Android and iPhone.
Here’s how to get Google’s Magic Editor and more on your phone.
What is Google’s Magic Editor?
Google’s Magic Editor is part of a collection of photo editing tools for Google Photos that help you rescue or enhance images.
This can include moving a person from one place to another, removing objects or people from the background of a shot, changing the lighting or sky to make a photo look more impressive see, plus the very useful ability to sharpen people’s faces in a photo if the focus is a little blurry.
Smart AI can then fill in the spaces left behind, making your photos look the way you intended them to look when you took them. Check out the Magic Eraser example below.
The capabilities of the tools are quite vast, so they will be a great addition for Android and iPhone users.
The new capabilities included for free in Google Photos are as follows:
- Magic editor – Move subjects in the image, resize them, apply contextual preset filters and more.
- Magic eraser – Quickly remove subjects you don’t want in the frame and the software uses generative AI to fill in the background to match what’s in the photo.
- Blur photo – Sharpen the focus of faces or objects that are blurred.
- Portrait light – Change the level or balance of light in an image of people from the waist up.
There may be more tools that could appear as the launch progresses.
How do I get Magic Editor on my Android or iPhone?
Google initially said the trial would begin on May 15 and take place over the next few months. All you have to do is update the Google Photos app on your phone and hopefully you will see the Magic Editor option appear. So check for updates regularly to see if the features have arrived on your device.
However, there are a few things to note…
Each user only gets 10 Magic Editor storage options per month unless you use the Google One Premium storage tier (2TB) or use a Pixel device. In that case, you get unlimited saves.
Google states that “Some editing features are not supported on 32-bit devices. To use some features, you must have at least 3 GB of RAM and be running Android 8.0 and above.
So it’s best to Google the specs of your device to see if it can run the Magic Editor and associated apps.
If your device isn’t quite up to spec, you can check out our best smartphone roundup or see what the best Pixel deals are currently available.
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