Google Photos finally learned a trick YouTube made popular, and VLC Media Player perfected years ago

Google Photos is probably one of Google’s best apps, offering plenty of exciting features. However, there’s always room for improvement, and the tech giant knows it, as it continually tests and adds new features to the app. The latest capability that has been introduced is the brand-new playback speed option.

It has been a top-requested feature

Google has its own community forum where you can report bugs and issues you’re encountering with a Google service or even request a feature you’d like to see in one of Google’s apps. A user posted on the community forum a while ago, asking whether there’s an option to adjust video playback speed in Google Photos. They were essentially inquiring about the ability to increase or decrease the video’s playback speed while watching it in the app.

Replying to the comment, an official said that no such option is currently available in the app. They further recommended using a proprietary media player to access this feature. The post received almost 200 upvotes, suggesting that there’s a huge demand for it.

It’s finally here

At the start of this year, it was reported that Google was finally testing this capability in its photo and video viewing app. However, no particular timeline was given for when it could become available in the stable build.

Months after being present in the beta build, the playback speed feature has finally landed in the stable version of the Google Photos app. Announcing the feature, the tech giant wrote in its blog post that “it has been a top request from our community for a long time.”

How to adjust your video speed in Google Photos?

Steps to use the Playback speed option in Google Photos. | Image by PhoneArena

To begin with, open the Play Store, and make sure to download any update available for Google Photos. After that, follow these steps:

Open the app, and play the video whose speed you want to adjust
Tap the three dots icon in the top-right corner and choose Playback speed from the menu that appears
Select the speed (0.25x, 0.5x, 1x, 1.5x, and 2x) at which you want to watch the video

That’s about it. The video will play at the chosen speed. However, it’s worth noting that the next time you watch the video, it will play at its default speed, i.e., 1x.

Google is very late to the party

Google Photos is definitely great, but I, personally, prefer an open-source, community-led app called Fossify Gallery. It has had the ability to change video playback speed for some time. Some dedicated video-viewing applications, like VLC Media Player, also come equipped with this feature.

Even though YouTube is not one of the direct alternatives, it is often considered the universal benchmark for video features, and it has offered this particular capability for many years. Better late than never, it is finally available in Google Photos as well.

A new photo enhancer option

In addition to introducing the playback speed option, the Mountain View giant has also added a new AI Enhance button. The company announced the feature in a post on X. The post reads, “Elevate your images with a tap, balancing light and color instantly.”

You’ll see a new “AI Enhance” button at the bottom-center of the image you’re viewing in the Photos app. Tap it, and the AI will take a few seconds to balance the image’s light and color. The example posted on X suggests that it’ll basically sharpen your dull photos.

Google has explicitly stated that the output of this feature will vary by device. That said, the X post mentions that this new option is available to all Android users worldwide. However, at the time of writing, I can’t find it in the Google Photos app installed on my Pixel 10.

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