Google Photos now shares with anyone, creates themed movies

Most people prefer to use their smartphones, even if less capable, over cameras to take pictures because of two reasons primarily. One, smartphones are almost always readily available and always with you. Second is because it's a lot easier to share them directly off your phone than through a camera. The latest Google Photos update has made that even a lot easier, maybe even lazier. Now you can share with people more directly rather than wasting time trying to juggle sharing with apps.

More often than not, sharing photos is a multi-step process. Pick your photo, tap on the share button, select the app to share with, and then select the person you want to share it with. That flow makes sense for a computer but not for the human brain, where it's more natural to think of the person first and the app last.

The new faster sharing feature in Google Photos adopts the more "natural" way of sharing. So instead of thinking of apps first, you think of people, and that's pretty much it. The Photos app itself determines how to best send the message, in what form, and through what medium. If the recipient already has the Google Photos app installed, they'll simply receive a notification to open the app. If the person happens to only have a phone number, they'll get a link to the Google Photos web page via SMS. And those with e-mails get a convenient link to click or tap on.

Sometimes, though, photos just aren't enough to convey your message. A set of moving photos might be even better, but you might not have the time, or the creative juices, to get that going. Google Photos has got you covered too. Now it can automatically stitch up photos into a single video around "creative concepts". While the app can already do so using recently taken photos, these revolve more around themed ideas or concepts, like photos showing a child's journey from baby to little lady.

Google promises that more concepts will be coming, including one for summer and one for weddings. The disadvantage is that you don't really get to choose how the videos are made. But, hey, if you already knew how to make them, you might have already done it yourself anyway.

These new features have already begun rolling out on Android, iOS, and even the Web.

SOURCE: Google