What you need to know
- Google Photos is reportedly working on a “Quick Edits” feature that gives users a small assortment of editing tools before sharing.
- A tipster states that the Quick Edits menu offers a way to “Enhance” a photo and the same cropping features as the chunkier editing mode.
- Concerning editing, Google recently added a way to make it more clear to others if your photos were edited using its AI software.
Google has been spotted working on a way for users to quickly edit pictures in the Photos app before sharing.
The feature, dubbed “Quick Edits,” was allegedly spotted by a tipster who reported its existence to Android Authority. According to its source, the option appeared on their Pixel 6 Pro in v7.10.0 of the app. The user states that the new menu, which surfaced when hitting the “Share” button in Photos, lets you quickly edit a singular photo before sending it.
The assortment of editing tools is much more limited in Quick Edits as the user only noticed a way to keep it “Original” alongside options to “Enhance” or crop it.
The “Original” option is straightforward as your photo will remain unaltered before sending. However, the “Enhanced” option seems to reconfigure the photo’s colors. The example shows that the colors are much richer and defined with much deeper shadows in the areas void of light. Overall, “enhanced” pictures appear brighter and a little clearer. This also seems very reminiscent of the “auto-enhance” AI-backed feature the publication picked up on in October.
Of course, this is a quicker alternative to what users would find in the app’s proper editing tools.
Quick Edits in Photos lets users see the difference by long-pressing the picture “to see original.”
The post states that the cropping feature is the same as found in the main editing tab, so users will see similar tools there. The user informed the publication that this feature appears when selecting multiple photos, as well, meaning users can likely edit a batch of pictures (if they desire) before sending them off.
Mishaal Rahman writing for the publication states that, aside from this informant, there haven’t been any other reports of “Quick Edits.” There are no clear signs about when it could hit more Pixel devices, but you should stay alert for it.
Curiously, Google reworked its Android 14 sharing screen earlier this year on several Pixel phones. When sharing, users were given a quick preview of the image in question with two initial rows of places to send the picture, which involved contacts and apps. However, this revamped menu gave users a “Modify” button to add more pictures to the message. Also, a pencil icon lets users hop into an editing area to spruce up the photos before sending them.
With this Quick Edits function now spotted, this quick moment to fix things might preceed this new share screen.
Elsewhere, Google added more awareness to a picture’s details page so others know if it was edited using AI. The company has several AI-based tools under its belt, like Magic Eraser, and it will now credit “Google AI” if you’re using such features.
