In a significant move to democratize advanced photo editing, Google has rolled out a sweeping update to its Google Photos app, bringing a suite of powerful AI features that were once exclusive to its flagship hardware to a much wider audience. The update, which is already hitting devices, includes everything from conversational editing to new creative tools and a major global expansion of its smart search.
The headline grabber? The game-changing "Ask Photos" feature and the intriguingly named Nano Banana integration are set to change how we interact with our digital memories.
Goodbye, Complex Sliders: Hello, Conversational Editing
Perhaps the most anticipated feature is the arrival of prompt-based editing for non-Pixel users. Previously a crown jewel of the Pixel 10 series, this AI-powered tool allows users to simply describe the changes they want to see.
Gone are the days of meticulously adjusting contrast, saturation, and shadow sliders. Now, with the app updated, users can tap the new "Help me edit" option and type commands like, "Make the sky more dramatic," "Brighten up my face," or "Remove the trash can in the background." The AI then interprets the request and applies the appropriate edits automatically. This feature is now available to iOS users, marking a major step in Google's platform-agnostic AI strategy.
Unleashing Creativity with Nano Banana and AI Templates
But the innovation doesn't stop there. Google is injecting a heavy dose of creativity into Photos with the integration of an AI model known internally as Nano Banana. This technology powers a new ability to personalize photos in a wide range of artistic styles.
As the company detailed in a recent post on the official Google Blog, this feature can, for example, transform a standard portrait into a Renaissance-style painting with astonishing accuracy and detail. The "Nano Banana" backend is designed to understand the context of a photo and apply complex stylistic transformations without requiring any technical expertise from the user.
Complementing this is the introduction of AI Templates. This feature enables users to create a specific type of picture simply by showing the app an example. Imagine you see a trendy birthday card template online; you can now input that image into Google Photos, and the AI will generate a new template for you to apply to your own photos. This feature is launching first on Android in the United States and India.
Smarter Search Goes Global, "Ask" Button Debuts
Proving that its AI ambitions are globally minded, Google also announced a massive expansion of its AI-powered search feature within Photos. Initially limited to the U.S., the enhanced search is now available in over 100 countries and supports more than 17 new languages, including Japanese, Bengali, and Arabic. This allows users to search their vast photo libraries with natural phrases like "my daughter swimming in Hawaii" or "license plate from the camping trip" with uncanny accuracy.
Finally, cementing the new conversational nature of the app, a new "Ask" button is appearing within the Google Photos interface. This button allows users to start a dialogue with Google's Gemini AI about the specific photo they are viewing. Pressing it lets you ask follow-up questions like, "What kind of flower is this?" or "Can you give me a recipe for the dish in this picture?" instantly.
With this update, Google Photos is solidifying its position not just as a cloud storage album, but as an intelligent, conversational, and deeply creative assistant for your entire photo library. The future of photo management is here, and it speaks your language.