The Google Photos image editor has picked up several upgrades over the past year. Specifically, the app introduced a bunch of AI-powered image editing options as part of its 10th anniversary last May. The Google Pixel-exclusive AI Enhance is one such feature introduced last year, which automatically generates three images with a single tap, each with updated framing, lighting, and composition.
Fresh reporting by Android Authority has revealed that Google may be looking to cut the number of images generated by AI Enhance from three to just one. Furthermore, the Google Photos editor may split the feature into two versions, called AI Enhance I and AI Enhance II.
It’s unclear whether these are placeholder names for upcoming iterations of AI Enhance or if Google Photos is simply looking to separate some of these tools for more editing control. As the publication suggests, this could also be a way to avoid being spoiled for choice or even an attempt to cut down on compute costs for this generative AI functionality.
Some questions remain unanswered
As it stands, there are reportedly no distinctive changes between the results generated by AI Enhance I and AI Enhance II. Additionally, there’s no evidence to show that these split buttons are any faster or better than the current solitary AI Enhance option.
Google Photos already appears to be testing this updated interface featuring the two buttons, with Telegram user @y7kka among the recipients. Android Authority then managed to activate the buttons on their own by digging into version 7.69.0.890655694 of the app.
While these screenshots show the standard (non-AI) Enhance option, we’re not seeing Dynamic in the carousel. It’s too soon to tell whether this is deliberate on Google’s part or if we’re simply unable to see them from these screenshots.
Hopefully, we can determine this and more when Google Photos expands the scope of this test in the future. As with any feature in testing, there’s always a chance that nothing comes of this and Google Photos sticks with the current AI Enhance workflow.
This development comes on the heels of Google Photos removing some of its easy-access image editing shortcuts to avoid “accidental triggers.” Specifically, the app has relocated the Move, Erase, and Reimagine shortcuts to the tools menu. Previously, these items appeared while scribbling, tapping, or circling on an image directly in the editor.
Additionally, the app may also make the Tools menu in the image editor more easily accessible, according to another report last month. Right now, items like Auto, Crop, Adjust, and several others are only visible after you tap the large Tools button in the image editor. This upcoming interface would basically remove this button and make these menu items immediately visible when you enter the image editing interface.
