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A guide outlines several ways to boost performance on an aging iPhone, centered mainly on freeing up storage space. It recommends checking Settings > General > iPhone Storage to identify space hogs like photos, videos and messages, enabling iCloud Photos optimization to offload full-resolution images, and clearing Safari's stored website data.
Apple's new HomeView platform, designed to power smart displays and shared home screens, reportedly only supports photo integration through Apple's own Photos service. Users who store their images in Google Photos or other third-party services cannot access that photo-display feature, which appears to be one of HomeView's most appealing functions.
Microsoft has rolled out an updated Photos app for Windows 11 Insiders featuring a new native editor and viewer, plus a redesigned gallery. The editor adds tools like Crop, Enhance, Repair, Stylize, and a new Relight feature for fixing lighting, alongside AI-powered object removal and support for HDR, HEIC, and WebP formats. Microsoft claims the editor launches 25% faster and the viewer opens photos up to 30% faster for HEIC files, with wider release to all users expected later this year.
Microsoft has released a redesigned Photos app for Windows 11 that merges photos and videos from a user's PC, OneDrive, and iCloud into one gallery, requiring OneDrive Camera Backup and iCloud for Windows to be set up. The update also rebuilds the editor with four new tool categories—Crop, Enhance, Repair, and Stylize—and speeds up app launch, scrolling, and image viewing, while adding support for HDR preservation, HEIC/WebP editing, and SVG files. The update is rolling out now to Windows Insiders, with a broader release planned later this year.
Apple is reportedly unveiling a new smart home device called 'HomePad' at a 'Welcome home' event next Tuesday. Rumored features include a Photos app face that cycles through Apple Photos images like a digital picture frame, on-screen lyrics during Apple Music playback, and an upgraded Siri AI capable of showing visual responses on its display.
Android Authority found new strings in Google Photos version 7.96.0 suggesting a feature to filter photos within a specific album by people and pets, rather than only across the whole library as is currently possible. The strings reference a filter button described as 'Filter photos by face,' along with options for 'People & pets,' unnamed 'Person' tags, and a 'Clear filter' control, hinting the feature may support selecting multiple faces at once.
Android Authority found hidden code in Google Photos version 7.96.0.99 revealing an in-development feature that lets users pick a playback speed—0.25x, 0.5x, 1x, 1.5x, or 2x—for animations made from multiple photos. The update would also add a preview screen before saving the GIF, which currently isn't offered, with finished animations saved to the camera roll and backed up to Google Photos.
Google's comparison highlights that Photos automatically backs up images to the cloud via a toggle in account settings, while Gallery requires manual backup. New Google accounts created after March 9, 2026 will get only 5GB of free storage by default, down from the current 15GB, though verifying a phone number unlocks an extra 10GB. Storage is shared across Gmail, Drive, WhatsApp and Photos, and additional space can be purchased through Google One starting at $2 per month for 100GB.
Parents are increasingly turning to generative AI tools like ChatGPT to create school portrait images for their children, often at a lower cost than traditional photographers. They upload photos and prompt the AI to add backgrounds and remove watermarks, effectively producing personalized school pictures without paying for professional prints. However, this practice raises concerns about privacy and data security, as uploaded images may be used to train future AI models without parental consent.
Google is developing a new 'Focus Peaking' tool for Snapseed, which will assist users in achieving accurate focus by highlighting sharp areas in the viewfinder. The feature was discovered in the latest app version and is expected to be accessible via a toggle in camera settings once released. Additionally, Snapseed is enhancing its LUT editing capabilities with support for HaldCLUT in the recent update.
Samsung has ended OneDrive integration in its Gallery app as of September 30, 2026, removing the in-app 'Sync with OneDrive' option. In its place, Gallery now offers direct syncing with Google Photos, though only personal Google accounts are supported, not Workspace accounts. Existing OneDrive backups remain intact, and users can still back up to OneDrive manually through Microsoft's own app.
Fujifilm has assumed control of the Google Photos Print Store, rebranding it as the Fujifilm for Google Photos Print Store. The camera maker now handles operations, customer support, and the product catalog, while Google Photos remains the interface users order through. The relaunch adds more print formats, frames, décor, gifts, and select in-store pickup at major retailers in the US.