- Google Photos is adding an Ultra HDR feature to some Android phones
- This lets you increase photo vibrancy in a few taps
- It can be applied to regular photos even after they’ve been taken
If you’ve taken a bunch of photos but wish they could be jazzed up with a little HDR magic, you’re in luck. That’s because Google has just added the ability to enhance your images with Ultra HDR effects in Google Photos. Better yet, the HDR changes can be applied to regular pictures, even if you’ve already taken and uploaded them.
As noticed by Android Authority, the feature has rolled out to a number of Google Photos users in recent days. It can’t yet be used by everyone, and it’s not clear whether it’s limited to the best Android phones or will soon be available more widely.
Google Photos’ Ultra HDR mode lets you take photos with a wider range of colors than standard pictures. That can boost image vibrancy, but you’ll usually need a device with an HDR display to fully appreciate the effect.
Yet the good thing about Google’s Ultra HDR feature is that it’s backward compatible, so your photos will revert to using standard color ranges on regular Android screens.
It also works the other way, too. Google Photos appears to have added the ability to convert normal photos into HDR equivalents, boosting their saturation and helping them pop much more than they previously did. That means There’s no need to remember to take the pictures in HDR mode in the first place.
Better photos in HDR
Ultra HDR mode had been spotted as far back as September 2024, but it wasn’t fully functional at the time. Now with version 7.24.0.747539053 of the Google Photos app, it looks like it’s beginning to roll out to a range of Android users.
Once it becomes more widely available, you will find the feature in the Adjust section of the Google Photos editor. There, you’ll be able to change the strength of the HDR effect using a slider. It is set to replace the HDR Effect option currently in Google Photos.
You can see a preview of the Ultra HDR effect on GitHub. Make sure you’re viewing it on an HDR-compatible device to be able to observe it properly.
Still, there’s no reliable indication of when the feature might arrive for everyone. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long before it rolls out.
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