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Google Photos Colorize feature appears online: Check out these samples
Update, October 8, 2019 (3:15AM ET): We’ve been waiting for the Colorize feature to land in Google Photos for over a year now, promising to bring AI-generated color to monochrome pictures. Thankfully, it looks like we’re a step closer to the feature rolling out for all users.
9to5Google obtained version 4.26 of the Google Photos app and managed to enable a beta version of the Colorize feature. The outlet noted that the Colorize option will appear after the Original and Auto filter options when editing snaps, complete with a beta tag.
The website also found that images needed to be uploaded to Google Photos before the Colorize feature takes action. This suggests that the process is handled online rather than on-device, so you’ll need an internet connection to take advantage of the feature. What kind of results can you expect though? Check out 9to5Google‘s samples below.
Google’s Colorize clearly isn’t 100% accurate just yet (and it likely won’t be), but the results seem pretty nifty at this beta stage. We downloaded version 4.26 of the Google Photos app but were unable to access the option just yet. But hopefully the news means a wider rollout is around the corner.
Original article, May 10, 2019 (2:34AM ET): Back at Google I/O 2018, Google announced several features for Google Photos, including Colorize capabilities. The feature, which will let you bring color to black and white images, has gone under the radar since then. But the Mountain View company has since issued an update on progress.
Google Photos product lead David Lieb told Mashable on Twitter (h/t: Android Police) that Colorize is still in the works. Furthermore, Lieb said they didn’t want to rush it, adding an example of the feature in action.
2/ Here’s a photo of my 104yo grandmother on her wedding day, colorized with Google Photos on my phone. (You can see we have some work to do; my grandfather didn’t wear pink pants to his wedding!) pic.twitter.com/Ni8v0Bz3vg— David Lieb (@dflieb) May 6, 2019
The Google representative said they were hoping to launch a beta version of the feature “soon,” although a release window hasn’t been confirmed yet.
Colorize features have been around before, but Google’s machine learning prowess and the massive Google Photos footprint could indeed make it an accessible, mainstream feature. Hopefully we don’t have to wait until Google I/O 2020 for a release.
There’s no shortage of Google Photos features though. Some of the more prominent features include one-tap editing actions, AI-based photo/video classification, depth editing, and live albums. What would you like to see in the app? Sound off in the comments!