I’m No Longer Using Google Photos as Just Cloud Storage – 5 Tools That Upgrade the App

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ZDNET Highlights

• Google Photos is more than just a storage tool.
• With these five tricks you can improve your photo game.
• Each of these features is built into Google Photos.

Google Photos is a necessity for anyone who uses Android and takes a lot of photos. With this app, you can organize, search, and even create. But did you know that there are some things you can do beyond the ordinary?

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For Android users who want to up their Google Photos game, this is a treat. And iPhone users shouldn’t feel deprived, as the first four of these five devices will also work in iOS, although the steps will be different. (Naturally, iOS users will need to install the Google Photos app.)

Check these out:

1. Create reels

If you’re seriously interested in social media, you’re undoubtedly familiar with Reels, Stories, and Clips. Have you ever wondered how to create such concise video content? If you try to do this manually, you will find that it is a difficult task. Google Photos can help you create and post a Reel as quickly as possible. To create a Reels in Google Photos, follow these steps:

1. Open Google Photos.
2. Tap the Create tab.
3. Tap “Highlight Video.”
4. Select a template.
5. Tap “Use Template.”
6. Select the photos you want to add to the Reel.
7. Tap Next.
8. Edit as needed (resize, adjust and add audio/music/text).
9. Tap Save.
10. That’s it. Now you can share that reel wherever you want.

2. Create stickers

Who doesn’t love a good sticker? Even better, who doesn’t love personalized stickers? If this sounds like you, you’ll be tickled to know that Android allows you to create stickers from your photos. This may seem challenging, but it is not. In fact, Google has made this process quite simple thanks to AI – naturally.

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How do you overcome this? let me show you.

1. Open Google Photos.
2. Find the image you want to use.
3. Tap on that image.
4. Long press the object in the image you want to use as a sticker.
5. Tap “Copy sticker.”
6. Open the app you want to use, then paste the sticker. You can also use the built-in share feature to send it via SMS, email or however you prefer to share items.

It’s stickerstick!

3. Share Album via QR Code

Do you love sharing photo albums with people, and are you looking for a faster way to do so? Google Photos has you covered. With a new feature in the app, you can create a photo album and then share it via QR code.

Let me show you how it’s done.

1. Open Google Photos.
2. Tap + near the top right corner of the app.
3. In the resulting pop-up, tap Albums.
4. Give your new album a title and an alternative description.
5. Tap “Select Photo.”
6. Select all the photos you want to add to the album.
7. Tap “Add” on the top right corner of the app.
8. Locate your newly created album.
9. Tap the Share icon at the bottom (the leftmost icon on the tablet).
10. Tap “Show QR Code.”
11. Tap “Create Link.”

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When the QR code appears, share it with others (either do it directly from your phone or take a screenshot of the code and share it).

Be careful when sharing a screenshot of the QR code, as you don’t want it to fall into the wrong hands.

4. Convert handwritten notes

Do you have a handwritten note that you photographed so you can remember it or use it later? What if you could use Google Photos to convert those handwritten notes into text? you can! Even better, Google Photos is a vast improvement over Google Lens in this process.

How this works depends on the phone you have. Since I only have a Pixel phone, I’ll show you how to do it on Google’s flagship. If you use a different phone, the process may differ.

1. Open Google Photos.
2. Find the photo of the handwritten note you want to transcribe.
3. Tap the related photo.
4. Tap Ask at the bottom.
5. Type “transcribe this note” at the ask prompt.
6. Wait until Gemini’s work is finished.
7. Copy the contents of the note.
8. Paste content where necessary.

5. Add music to your video

If you take a lot of videos without sound, you might want to give them a boost of creativity by adding music to them, and Google Photos makes this very easy. This way. (Note that this trick does not apply to iOS users.)

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1. Open Google Photos.
2. Find and tap the video you want to add music to.
3. Swipe the bottom tab bar left until you see Music.
4. Tap Music.
5. Find the song you want to add to your video and tap Select.
6. If you don’t want the song to start at the beginning, locate the section to use by dragging the song timeline left or right.
7. Tap Save.

Now you can share your new video with the sound of your choice.