Google has rolled out its latest update for its Photos app, and it's proving to highly focused on Apple software this time around. The update brings support for Live Photos on iOS, the animated photo format introduced by Apple on iOS 9 and its iPhone 6s and 6s Plus Smartphones.
Live Photos support on iOS is here! Get the update: https://t.co/VzdXZ81FX5 pic.twitter.com/D8RSvoi4n2
— Google Photos (@googlephotos) March 7, 2016
Now users will be able to store with users now able to store, view and organize their Live Photos separately from their device's Camera Roll inside Google's app. Once uploaded to Google Photos on iOS, users can Force Touch on the image (hard press) to see them animate, akin to what users would see when viewing the photos in Photo Gallery on iOS.
In addition, the animated images now receive a "Live Photo" icon at the top of the screen, allowing users to be able to distinguish between those and normal ones. It's noted however that this functionality only applies when migrating photos from Live Photos to Google Photos. If done the other way around, then the photos will no longer be animated. The only way around this is to have backed up photos on the Camera Roll.
Other features the update brings include:
- Split View support allowing photos on the app to be viewed while looking at other apps on iPad Mini 4, iPad Air 2 and iPad Pro devices.
- Support for the 2732x2048 resolution on the iPad Pro, instead of scaling up on the device's 12.9-inch screen.
- Improved app navigation so users spend less time flipping through "hamburger" menus.
- Reduced cache usage on iOS devices running low on space.
Rounding out the news is the fact that the Live Photos feature on Google Photos is retroactive. This means that photos taken before the update will now appear as Live Photos.
Google Photos is the latest third-party service to add support for the Live Photos. Other major photo sharing sites like Tumblr and Facebook already allow users to post and share Apple's specialized image format.
Google Photos is available for both the iPad and iPhone. The update is free to download on the iTunes App Store.
