Google Photos could soon get video presets to make basic edits much easier

We first discovered evidence earlier this month that Google Photos could get a “Spotlights” feature to automatically trim videos and more. It hasn’t taken long, but we now have a much better idea of what to expect.

We dug into version 6.97 of Google Photos for Android and discovered that this “Spotlights” feature is now called “Presets” and offers four predefined options for videos. These video presets are effectively one-tap editing tools and consist of the following options.

• Basic Cut — Trimming to the key moment and enhancing colors.
• Slow Mo — Applies a slow-motion effect to the selected area.
• Zoom — Automatically zoom in and out of the video in the selected area.
• Track — Automatically tracks and zooms in on the person in the video.

We were able to activate these video presets, and were subsequently prompted to install 3MB of editing tools. The presets can be found by navigating to the desired video, and then tapping Edit > Presets (between “Video” and “Crop”).

You can also adjust the duration of the effect using a slider tool. So if you want the slow-motion effect to last a little longer, you can adjust the slider accordingly. It’s also worth noting that you can’t export a video that uses all four presets, topping out at the Basic Cut option plus one of the other three presets. We’re not sure if this will change when video presets are available.

In any event, we hope these options come to Google Photos soon, as they could make some basic video edits much easier. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the platform gets more handy video editing tools like these in the future.