A new update to Google Photos is rolling out that brings a new editing feature for videos. The update is build 1.25.0.12950344 for those keeping score and playing Version Bingo. In the update you will find that you now have the ability to edit a video that you have stored locally. Those editing features include the ability to rotate the video and to clip it at the beginning or the end to adjust the overall time of the video. Once you save that video that you have edited, it is stored online to your Google Photos account like other videos. The key thing to remember is that the feature is limited to those videos you have stored locally. In other words, it does not work on videos that you have uploaded to your Photos account and then used the Free Up Space feature and removed them from your device.
Hopefully we will see an expansion of this feature for those videos already online as that would make it all-the-more powerful for users.
Video Editing in Google Photos
Speaking of Free Up Space, there is a small tweak to that feature too. Until now, to get to the feature in Google Photos, you had to go to Settings>Free Up Space. In this new version, it is right off of the main menu. That makes it much easier to find and to utilize. For those who aren’t familiar with the feature, Free Up Space allows you to delete locally stored photos and videos that you have already uploaded to your Photos online account. It deletes what is local but saves what ever you have in the cloud. Remember, in Google Photos, if you delete a photo, it deletes it on your device and in the cloud. Free Up Space is a better way to go about getting some of the storage back on your phone or tablet (as the new commercial running right now highlights).
If you have Google Photos already on your phone or tablet, you will see the OTA update for it over the course of the next few days. If you haven’t given the app and service a try, I highly recommend it.
