4 New Google Photos Features Added to Your Android Phone in September 2026

Google Photos is now smarter than ever, thanks in no small part to all the nifty tools it’s received over the past year. Just for its tenth anniversary, Google Photos has been upgraded with many AI features. On the one hand, you now receive suggested edits in editor mode. All you have to do is tap on your subject or part of the image you want to edit, and a set of suggestions such as blur the background, sharpen, or move will appear on the screen. If you’re not sure which tools you should use to make the edit you want, you can simply type a prompt into the chat box to let the AI ​​take care of it for you. Google Photos also includes photo-to-video generation functionality using text prompts and all-new ways to search for specific photos, share albums, and customize what appears in your library.

But the recent additions don’t stop there. The app continues to receive regular software updates so far, and Google Photos’ rollout in September is particularly exciting, thanks to some useful new features.

Wardrobe apps are all the rage among users with a full wardrobe. Instead of digging through their closet, they can simply browse their clothes in the app and choose an outfit from there. The problem with wardrobe apps, however, is that you’ll usually go to the trouble of uploading photos of each item to create your digital wardrobe. If you’re looking for a wardrobe app that’s much easier to set up, try Google Photos instead.

With the September 2026 update, Google Photos now has a built-in closet feature called Wardrobe, available to all eligible users. This AI-powered tool searches your library, selects images with your face from the last four years, and extracts the clothes you wore in those photos. You don’t have to import individual images of your clothes at all. After extracting the pieces, Armoire then sorts them into categories like dresses, bottoms, outerwear and even accessories like jewelry, hats and bags. Some categories have subcategories for further organization. For example, shoes are divided into heels, sneakers and flats.

If you live in the United States, Brazil, or India and have more than 1,000 photos of yourself in Google Photos, you can access this feature on your Android or iOS device. Follow this guide:

1. With Google Photos open, tap Collections at the bottom.
2. Select Wardrobe.
3. Tap Build My Wardrobe.

Wait until Google Photos has finished preparing your wardrobe. It will send you an alert once it’s done. When you receive the notification, you can find your Wardrobe album in the Collections tab. If you want to try a combination of pieces, tap Create, choose your items, and tap Try It. Google Photos will generate a photo of you wearing the clothes you selected.

When you want to hide sensitive information from your images in Google Photos, you usually just need to draw it with the pen markup tool. It’s not as clean as one might like, but it gets the job done. If you prefer something less distracting, you’re in luck. Google Photos now comes with a Redact pen tool.

Instead of using a solid color like the standard Pen option, Redact adds a pixelated effect of your choice to whatever you draw on. This effectively hides any information while blending more naturally into the rest of the image. Here’s how to find and use the Redact pen in Google Photos:

1. Open the photo you want to edit in Google Photos.
2. Tap Edit.
3. Go to markup.
4. Select the Edit pen.
5. Choose the writing style you want to use.
6. Adjust the thickness of the pen with the slider.
7. Draw the area you want to mask.
8. To undo the most recent marking, tap the undo arrow at the bottom.
9. To clear all marks, tap Reset.
10. To save the edited photo, tap the checkmark and tap Save as copy at the top right of the screen.

If you don’t have the Redact tool in the Markup section, either you’re using an iPhone or the Google Photos feature hasn’t reached your area yet. As of this writing, Redact is exclusive to Android devices, with a gradual rollout to users worldwide.

If you want to rearrange your images, Google Photos already includes a range of filters in the editor panel. However, when you apply them to each of your photos, the filters become too monotonous and boring. Google Photos addresses this issue with its new Moods feature in the September update.

Moods also offers a set of filters for your images. The only difference is that they are powered by generative AI, which automatically optimizes filters based on your photos and gives them a unique look. The filters are primarily designed around the vintage camera aesthetic, unlike preset filters which cover a wider range of styles.

To access Moods in the app, follow these steps:

1. In Google Photos, go to the Create tab.
2. Select Moods from the options at the top.
3. Find the photo you want to apply the filter to.
4. Tap your favorite mood. Options include Rich Textures, Night Lights, Retro Contrast, 2000s Night, and Crisp 35mm, among others.
5. Adjust the effect to your liking.
6. Once you are satisfied with the result, click Save.

It’s important to note that Moods is only available to Android users at the moment.

Google Photos is one of the best Android apps for quick photo editing, but even with its simple editor, editing multiple images is still too tedious and time-consuming. Fortunately, the September 2026 update to Google Photos makes this task much quicker and easier. This update integrates Google Photos with Gemini Spark, an AI agent that helps you with complex tasks like batch editing photos. Here’s what you need to do to use Gemini Spark with Google Photos:

1. Launch the Gemini app.
2. Tap the two lines at the top left.
3. Go to the gear icon.
4. Select Personal Intelligence.
5. Open connected apps.
6. Enable Google Photos.
7. Tap Connect to continue.

From here, you can start batch editing your Google Photos images in Spark:

1. In the Gemini app, go back to both lines.
2. Choose Sparkle.
3. Type your prompt. Just use natural language, like “Make my photos from yesterday brighter” or “Crop the ten best photos from my Europe trip to 4:3.” You may need to add @Google Photos in the prompt if it doesn’t automatically use your Photos account.
4. Tap the arrow to submit.
5. Wait until Gemini finishes batch editing your photos.

You should then find your original and edited photos in Google Photos. Besides batch photo editing, Gemini Spark supports other requests. This includes searching for photos based on the event, date, location, or photo content; identify the most beautiful images; add photos to albums; album sharing; copy text from photos; and schedule Google Photos-related tasks (for example, sorting images). You can even add multiple requests in a single prompt for added convenience.

Keep in mind that the Gemini Spark integration with Google Photos is currently only offered to users in the United States with a Google AI Pro or Ultra account.