Google Photos just announced an annual roundup feature that plays off the likes of Spotify Wrapped and PlayStation Wrap-Up. It’s a highlight reel of notable photos, hand-picked throughout the year, with “fun graphics and cinematic effects.” I can’t wait to see the beautiful photos of the cats.
In addition to random graphics and effects, the system also generates captions that help indicate the two important events of the year for each user. These captions are generated by Gemini, but users must opt in. Google gave examples of attending a wedding and traveling to Seoul.
The Recap feature also provides “insights” in the form of trivia about a particular user’s photography habits. This can detail everything from your favorite color to who makes you smile the most. Google also promises that Recap will detail users’ “2024 vibes.” What does 2024 look like? Oh yeah.
Similar to rival annual roundup tools, people can easily share everything to social media platforms. There’s also a bit of a competitive element here, as each link contains data about a particular user’s longest photo streak. Nothing makes you prouder than saying, “You only took 560 photos this year, and I took 570.”
This feature is currently rolling out to all users. Look for a notification in Google Photos that says it’s ready to view. The app also recently added tools to detect AI-manipulated images and other tools to use AI to manipulate photos.
