Google is making AI photo editing available to more people. Starting May 15th, almost all Google Photos users will have access to features that were previously limited to his Pixel owners and his Google One subscribers. It's a nifty upgrade for anyone who's tired of Photos prompting you to “upgrade” to access more editing tools. myself).
Magic Editor is Google's generative AI photo editing tool that debuted as one of the featured AI features on the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. This kind of feature is usually only available on new Pixels for six months after launch, but Google has also brought this feature to previous Pixel smartphones, right on schedule.
But that's not all. Google Photos users with Android or iOS devices that meet the minimum requirements can use Google Photos without a Google One subscription. There is a limit of 10 saved edits per month. However, Pixel owners and paid subscribers have unlimited usage.
Older features like Photo Blur and Eraser, previously available only to Pixel owners and certain Google One subscribers, will now be available for free to all Photos users. Google's Photos community site has a full list of these features, including portrait mode blur and editing lighting effects (useful, but not cutting-edge, for better or worse). Other generative AI features launched on the Pixel 8 series, such as Best Take and Audio Magic Eraser, remain exclusive to the latest he Pixel, at least for now.
If you're ready to dive into the future of AI-powered photo editing and use Magic Editor, you'll need a device with at least a 64-bit chip, 4 GB of RAM, and iOS 15 or Android 8.0. These are fairly generous requirements. AI runs off-device anyway. And if you're still using an iPhone 5 for some reason, the lack of Magic Editor probably isn't your biggest concern.