Google Photos is a great photo management and editing application. As it has grown in popularity, Google has made occasional attempts to monetize photos – most recently by launching a subscription service where customers receive a selection of 10 printed shots per month. But according to now XDA Developers (And also published by Android Police), Google is planning to reserve some editing tricks – some, which were previously available for free – for Google One subscribers. Dear service, this is one way to start spoiling Google. Maybe reconsider this.
Within the code for the latest update on Google Photos, there are strings that explicitly indicate the application is moving in this direction:
As a Google One member, you’ll have access to additional editing features.
Get additional editing features with a Google One subscription.
Unlock this feature and more with Google One subscription.
Unlock more editing features and storage storage_mount storage with Google One subscription.
But these are not just hidden code snippets; It looks like Google is already testing this approach with some people, as you can see in the screenshots shared below. XDAOf Mishal Rahman.
However, Google states Edge It doesn’t really locate the free “Color Popup” tool behind the pay-per-view; It just offers a newer version that can be used on more photos than ever before:
In Google Photos, Color PAP is a feature that is available for anyone to use for free, in-depth informational photos (such as portrait mode). As part of an ongoing rollout earlier this year, Google One members could also apply the feature to more photos of people, including those without depth information.
That said, Google will not tell us what other editing tools and features it may decide to offer exclusively to its Google One subscribers, saying it has “nothing to share.”
With monthly subscriptions starting at 99 99.99 per month (for 100GB of cloud storage spread across your Google services), Google One isn’t terribly expensive. It is also used for Android device backups, and the company recently announced that it is adding a VPN feature for Google One subscribers on the One 9.99 / month (2TB storage) plan. But the idea that you may soon have to pay a recurring fee to unlock everything Google Photos has done is still frustrating. Maybe this is the cost of all those free photo storage.
Update, 7:30 p.m. ET: Added Google statement and clarification that the “color pop” feature with pavilions works with more photos than the original free version.
