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.
Read MoreLooking for pics taken at work or a friend's house? Google Photos can now search for your custom Maps labels
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.
Read MoreDear Samsung, please let me exclude screenshots from Google Photos backups
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.
Read MoreGoogle Photos might soon let you pinch-to-zoom on videos
Just like any other image viewer, Google Photos has always supported pinch-to-zoom on images. You've never been able to zoom in on videos, though — that long-requested ability is absent from Google's software. Now, the first evidence has surfaced that the company is working on this functionality.
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Google wants your help to improve Photos' smart creations and recommendations
Google Photos has received plenty of changes recently. Between the new markup tool, manual face tagging, in-app conversations instead of the countless sharing threads, background blurring in all pics and not just Portrait ones, and the new account picker, we've seen a lot of functional as well as a few aesthetic improvements. The latest new feature to grace the app is a feedback tool to better personalize your Photos experience.
Read MoreGoogle Photos rolling out new account picker and a way to get back automated creations you dismissed (Update: Live for all)
Google is continuing to update its apps with the new account picker it announced at I/O. After spotting it (and the accompanying switch gesture in various apps) we noticed it was showing up for some users in the Play Store and is now rolling out in Google Photos too. The app is also getting a new "Skipped suggestions" section in settings for getting back automated creations you may have mistakenly dismissed.
Read MoreGoogle’s first Pixel feature drop boosts performance, updates Photos, Call Screen, Duo (Update: Quarterly releases planned)
Just a few days after we covered some possible upcoming features for the Pixel phones thanks to a teardown of the Pixel Tips app, Google officially introduced them as part of the first "Pixel feature drop." Other than memory enhancements to the Pixel phones, you'll find app-specific improvements in this update such as the option to add blur to any picture in Google Photos, automatic Call Screen support for robocalls, and improvements to Duo.
Read MoreBug in Google Photos removes tap-and-drag gesture for multiple selection (Update: Fixed)
A recent update to Google Photos is annoying a lot of users by removing the super handy tap-and-drag for selecting multiple images. Not all users are affected and it's not clear if this is a server-side bug or a sign of things to come, but if the latter's the case, then it sure is not a wise decision, Google.
Read MorePixel Tips teardown points to Google Pay in power menu, background blurring for Duo, automatic Call Screening, and more
You might think on-boarding applications like Pixel Tips are annoying and don't bring much value to advanced users, but as it turns out, the app hides a few unannounced features in its code. A teardown brings to light Google's work on cards and passes support in the long-press power menu, automatic call screening in the Phone app, background blurring and auto-framing for Duo, and a post hoc Portrait Mode for Photos.
Read MoreNest Hubs let you easily hide, star, and share slideshow photos
Google's smart speakers and displays are brimming with features, some of which unknown. Many of you likely never noticed that they can ask their smart displays to star, share, or hide a pic when it comes up, but that feature has been available for a year. Google is now making it more visible by bringing the icons to the screen.
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39 temporarily free and 47 on-sale apps and games for Monday
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Today only: The Samsung Galaxy S10+ is down to just $700 on Amazon ($300 off)
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