Google Photos is already a solid product and has only recently received a massive facelift that's still not rolling out widely. But there are always little things that can be improved upon, and recently, two have surfaced: The Photos app now shows you toasts that let you quickly copy texts from images while the web interface allows you to see where you've uploaded a given photo from.
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If you only use Google Photos to view all the pics and videos you've taken, you likely never came across the messy way that media, especially portrait photos, is organized in the background. Pixels, for example, create a separate folder for each pair of portrait pics. When you browse your local storage, you can find these folders under DCIM/camera/IMG_date_time, where the date and time are specific to each pair of snaps. Besides Google Photos, local gallery apps don't usually handle these hundreds or thousands of folders properly, but now Simple Gallery Pro does.
Read MoreGoogle Photos hasn't seen any substantial interface changes since its inception as a standalone app, minus the addition of the bottom bar in 2016. Bigger changes are headed our way, though, following the introduction of the new account picker on the heels. They come in the form of a redesigned UI that does away with the always accessible search bar up top and the hamburger menu. However, it also makes the bottom bar more intuitive and gives us long-awaited features.
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Some Android phones offer a nifty video solution called HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) that records your creations in the H.265 format instead of H.264. This takes up less space on your phone and in your cloud library, so it's something many people toggle on (it's not on by default on a Pixel, for example). Unfortunately, Google Photos isn't currently able to edit and save these H.265 videos, much to the dismay of many users.
Read MoreGoogle Photos is an incredibly powerful platform that makes your archive of photos and videos searchable and easily accessible anywhere you have internet. Since all files sit on Google servers, you have to trust the company to do its due diligence to protect your data, but it looks like a mishap occurred last November. Google has started sending out emails informing some users that during a short period, some backed up videos were accidentally added to other people's Google Takeout archives.
Read MoreIf you're a Google Photos user, you probably know the app likes to highlight some of your best shots using AI, either by adding special effects to them or grouping them. Back in September, Google's popular service received the ability to automatically curate memories for you and added an option to print photos in a new Canvas offering. The company is now testing out a new service that can automatically print and mail the best photos you've taken every month.
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Smartphone cameras are pretty great, but sometimes, you'd like to actually pull out that DSLR or mirrorless you own and take it out with some friends for a photoshoot all across town. You'd also like to keep track of where your posse's been that day, but the problem is your kit isn't equipped with a GPS. Well, if you're not aware already, you can link up your phone's location data to your snaps with the help of a couple Google services.
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According to a report by Reuters, the European Union Commission is considering a ban on facial recognition technology in public areas for up to five years. The measure is intended to curb privacy violations, give lawmakers time to protect citizens from being cataloged illegally, and oppose the recent push by companies to enhance and improve-upon recognition tech.
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Google Maps makes it easy to search for and navigate to our frequently visited places by letting us assign custom labels for them. "Home," "work," and anything from "school" to "gym" or "Jim's house" can be applied to locations so we never have to remember exact and complicated addresses again. These labels work well enough in Maps and Assistant, but they aren't integrated in many other Google services. Now, they're being added to Photos so you can easily search for pics taken at different places.
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After years of using mostly stock-Android phones, I bought a Galaxy S10e for myself a few months ago, and I've used it almost every day since that point. While the software experience isn't perfect, Samsung does usually provide options to disable functionality I don't care for. However, there's one software quirk that can't easily be fixed: screenshots are constantly backed up to my Google Photos library.
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