Google Photos is changing — Three big new features every user should know

At the Google I/O developer conference Google announced that the Google Photos app is to get a slew of upgrades that make it even more useful.

The San Francisco giant is using machine-learning and groundbreaking AI in order to make interacting with photos easier than ever. These three new features are the highlights that you really should make a note of.

Automatic facial recognition
It will be easier than ever to share photos with the people that feature in them thanks to this clever new technology. Google Photos will use Facial Recognition to group together photos of the same people, and even better, it will then put those photos in a folder making albums quick and easy to send.

Based on your previous actions the app will recognise the person in the photos and offer to send them a link. You will also be able to to set up Shared Libraries. These will notify members when new photos are added and save each photo to each member’s personal library.

Light enhancement
AI will be able to suggest instant improvements to your photos. The app will make suggestions such as changing a photo’s brightness or altering the contrast and you will be able to enact these changes with a single tap.

These suggestions will vary from photo to photo based on what the AI sees in each one.

Colourisation and selective desaturation
New filters will also offer even greater control over the look of your photos. Colour Pop will selectively de-saturate the background of an image but leave the subject in full colour, while the AI-powered app will also be able to colourise black and white photos.