Google enhances Photos and Gmail with new face blocking, HDR preservation, and AI-powered draft polishing
Top 3 Key Points:
- Face Blocking in Google Photos: Google Photos now allows users to block specific faces from appearing in memories, providing more control over what they see.
- Ultra HDR Metadata Preservation: Google Photos update ensures Ultra HDR data is retained during edits, improving photo quality management.
- AI-Powered Draft Polishing in Gmail: Gmail introduces a “Polish” feature that turns rough notes into refined drafts, enhancing productivity.
Google is continually improving its services, and the latest updates to Google Photos reflect this commitment. The app now allows users to block specific faces from appearing in their memories. This feature comes as part of the latest Google Photos update, where the “Block face” option lets you exclude certain people from your photo memories entirely. For those who only wish to see less of someone, the “Show less” option is also available.
Hooray, basic editing of Ultra HDR photos on my Pixel 8 Pro in Google Photos, such as cropping or rotating, no longer strips Ultra HDR.
Finally!
I’m on version 6.95.0.663027175.
Previously:
– https://t.co/nTZSNwd5xa
– https://t.co/mY1BRqwbSA
– https://t.co/LG2eNCvSos
etc. pic.twitter.com/b4z1BYgsPt— Artem Russakovskii (@ArtemR) August 20, 2024
Using this feature is simple. You can access it by opening the Google Photos app, tapping your profile photo, and navigating to the “Memories” section under “Preferences” in the “Photos settings.” Here, you can choose to hide specific people or dates from your memories, ensuring a more personalized experience.
In addition to the face-blocking feature, Google has also addressed a previous issue where Ultra HDR metadata was being stripped during photo edits. With the new update, Google Photos preserves Ultra HDR information, even when edits are made, ensuring your high-quality photos retain their brilliance.
Gmail: AI-Powered Draft Polishing
Google has also enhanced Gmail with a new AI-driven feature called “Polish,” which is part of the “Help me write” function. This feature is designed to turn rough notes into fully polished drafts with just a click. Whether you’re using Gmail on the web, Android, or iOS, you can now easily refine your emails, making them more formal, detailed, or concise.
The “Polish” feature is available to users subscribed to Google One AI Premium, Gemini Business and Enterprise, and other premium Google services. By simply tapping the pencil icon in the draft toolbar, Gmail will refine your text, saving you time and effort.
These updates highlight Google’s ongoing efforts to enhance user experience across its platforms, making its tools more intuitive, powerful, and user-friendly.
Google is preparing to add Ultra HDR image capture support to the CameraX API.
This will allow apps that utilize the CameraX API to output images in the new JPEG_R format used for Ultra HDR, on devices running Android 14.
JPEG_R is a new type of JPEG file that can contain a… pic.twitter.com/ef20uxaAm9
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) January 23, 2024