For people who have debated whether or not to pay Google for additional cloud storage, Google softened the deal today with new photo-editing tools to Google One subscribers.
In a blog postGoogle outlined the new effects that will be added to Google Photos for those with a Google One subscription, including porting about features previously only available on Pixel phones. The new effects even include support for photos taken by older phones don’t have the same set of depth sensors available on more recent devices and any existing photos you’ve already taken.
The new editing features include both Portrait Blur and Portrait Lighting to enhance photos of friends and family you’ve taken Blur and color pop effects to accentuate a particular subject or emphasize specific hues and tones. And as usual, you can apply these effects yourself, or let Google Photos come up with its own edits via auto-suggestions.
There is even support for more advanced editing effects, those Google calling dynamic suggestions, that use machine learning to adjust various settings, including brightness, contrast and color saturation, all with a single tap. For landscape photographers, Google has even created a special sky suggestions filter (example above) that can add some extra drama to your shot by adjusting multiple settings and overlaying a handful of color palettes “inspired by breathtaking sunrises and sunsets”.
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In addition to the new effects, Google is also adding a new video editor to Google Photos for all users (even non-paying) with more than 30 different settings and controls, including cropping, stabilizing, adding filters, changing perspectives and more.
However, while the difficult To be upset about getting new features for free, it’s important to mention that the new Google Photos upgrades for those with a Google One plan were just a few months before Google turns off unlimited storage in Google Photos. Starting in June, anyone with more than 15 GB of photos will have to look elsewhere to store their photos, or pay $ 2 a month for 100 GB of cloud storage with Google One.
On the one hand, it was always clear that free unlimited storage in Google Photos was a deal too good to last forever, but at the same time, the switch is forcing people make a tough decision about what to do with all the digital media they’ve captured over the years.
W.When it comes to cloud storage, the free 15 GB of storage you get from Google Photos is already three times the space you get from Apple iCloud or Microsoft OneDrive, which offer only 5 GB of free storage space. So if you already run out of storage space in Google Photos, switching to one of the other major cloud storage providers probably won’t save you money.
And if you decide at this point to opt for additional cloud storage Google One and Microsoft OneDrive charge $ 2 per month for an additional 100 GB of space (or $ 3 per month for 200 GB with Google One), while Apple is paying $ 1 per month for 50 GB or $ 3 per month for 200 GB. It’s a shame Google Photos is no longer completely free, but Google One is still a pretty good deal compared to the competition.
Google One subscribers on Android will see the new photo editing features “In the coming days,” and the new videoediting features (already available on iOS) will be available on Android sometime in the “next few weeks”.