Even if you’ve only spent an hour watching TV in the past year, you’ve probably seen an ad for the Google Pixel. Clearly, the company’s marketing budget is higher than ever; it even poured countless millions into a Super Bowl location in the first day of this month.
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At the heart of all the ads is a well-known feature: Magic Eraser, a one-touch editing tool included in the Google Photos app that lets you magically remove unwanted objects from any image. That includes the people photographed in your perfectly framed family vacation photo and the passersby in your epic Grand Canyon snap. There is a degree of satisfaction that comes with such power, and Google knows it.
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Since its release, Magic Eraser has been exclusive to Google Pixel 6 And Pixel 7 seriesbut today Google is rolling out an update that provides Pixel 5a and older models, other Android devices, and iPhones also have the ability to use photo editing.
Before (left) and after (right) when using Magic Eraser. Jun Wan/ZDNET
Note that while Magic Eraser is free to all Pixel users, you need to register to Google One — the company’s own cloud storage service — to reap the benefits on non-Pixel phones like the iPhone.
Pricing for a Google One membership starts at 100GB for $2 a month and goes up to 2TB of storage for $9.99 a month. Of course, you’ll save 16% if you commit to an annual subscription.
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Along with Magic Eraser, the latest Google Photos update comes with a “HDR Effect” option for videos and new styles in the collage editor. To use these features, simply update Google Photos from your app store and you’ll see them appear when you expand a photo or video in your gallery.
