The first is an addition to Google+’s cross-platform edit syncing. Before, Google would keep a cached copy of all of your original photos so that you could revert any batch of edits. Today’s update takes this editing second chance a step further; now you can go back and adjust individual edits without having to start from scratch.
To access this feature, just open up a photo you've previously touched up in the Chrome editor. There is now a new button in the bottom left-hand corner of the editing tools pane called “Edits” conveniently displaying the number of edits a picture has on it. Clicking on that button will open up a list of each edit you've made to a photo (as well as the original) with the options to edit or remove each change. You can even copy and paste edits to your heart’s desire.
This feature will definitely prove useful for people like me who always seem to click on the wrong button by mistake, and it was definitely targeted towards hardcore photographers who are so meticulous about editing that they need to edit their edits. Right now meta-editing is restricted to the photo editor for Chrome, but with I/O just around the corner, a major app update could be launching very shortly.
The other update is an addition to the family of Auto Awesome effects available when photos are processed through Auto Upload. The new effect, vaguely titled “Auto Awesome Effects,” uses Google+’s content recognition algorithms to figure out what’s in a picture and then automatically edit with a set of filters from the Google+ Photos editor it deems appropriate (not to worry, you can always adjust and remove any effects this feature applies to your photos). The Google+ post announcing the change said that Auto Awesome Effects apply to any “land or cityscape photo” Google can detect, and it’s unclear if the feature will expand to other categories of pictures in the future.
Both of these updates represent a trend in Google+’s photo organizing and editing systems which basically splits users into two categories: those who want to do everything and those who don’t want to do anything. On the one hand, editing is becoming even more sophisticated and precise, making Google+ a worthy platform for professional photographers or just camera fanatics. On the other hand, Google is also using Auto Upload, Highlights, Auto Awesome, and other automatic features to do as much work as possible behind the scenes so that users don’t have to do much of anything.
All in all, this is a pretty noteworthy update, especially because it’s the day before Google I/O, a.k.a. the biggest Update Wednesday of the year. Our fingers are crossed for some even bigger upgrades rolling out tomorrow.
What do you think of the new updates? Are you happier to be able to do more edits or to let Google do the editing for you? What are you hoping to see at this year’s Google I/O? Share your own experiences with us in the comments.