Android users can now use conversational editing in Google Photos
60 comments
·September 23, 2025barbazoo
kllrnohj
Unfortunately it seems to still be lacking HDR images support ( https://github.com/immich-app/immich/discussions/7262 ) if you care about that or not.
into_ruin
I really tried my best with Immich, but because I didn't want to open a port on my home firewall it made syncing kind of a pain.
I ended up going with Ente and have been pretty happy with it.
skwee357
Wireguard is the answer. That's how I use it
amelius
Interesting. Not OP, but I'm looking for something that can punch through corporate firewalls so I can use this (and other) software at work.
kakokiyrvoooo
Tailscale is what I use to solve such issues.
walthamstow
Tailscale solves the open port thing for me
mcny
I seriously dislike adding a package source for a single application. It feels dirty to me. I can't explain it but it makes me feel like I need to take a shower.
I don't use arch but this looks cleaner than whatever Debian or fedora (both of which I use) have going on
TranquilMarmot
I host Immich in Hetzner (VPS w/ attached 1TB storage box) and connect to it using Tailscale which works pretty flawlessly on my phone. It's great, although the VPS is pretty slow and I might move to a home server at some point.
I might also just switch over to Ente so I don't have to deal with the self-hosting. Price for Ente is about equivalent for what I'm paying Hetzner right now.
thehamkercat
Immich didn't have encryption last time i checked, do you trust hetzner with your photos?
I also use Immich, but on a local server (using tailscale to reach it from outside)
dsvf
You could keep the Hetzner VPS with storage for faster online serving of assets and connect a second immich instance only for machine learning on your home server. That way you'd get the best of both worlds: fast media serving and higher performance. That would mean that images are uploaded to the Hetzner server, but the compute-intensive image classification takes place on your home server.
prabakarviji
Interesting. any alternative options for iCloud Photos?
TranquilMarmot
You can import your iCloud photos into Immich. Immich itself is agnostic to the photos and mostly just operates on folders of files.
https://github.com/simulot/immich-go is what I used to import ~300gb of photos from Google Photos to Immich. Not sure how well it works for iCloud.
There is also https://ente.io/ which is a private & secure photo backup app that you don't need to self-host.
CharlesW
> Not sure how well it works for iCloud.
iCloud Photos stores originals (assuming you're using "Download Originals to this Mac") in the "originals" folder of your .photoslibrary package.
If you don't sync your originals, use iCloud Photos Downloader (https://github.com/icloud-photos-downloader/icloud_photos_do...) to get them.
47282847
I use PhotoSync to transfer files automatically. There is also icloudpd and other tools to grab them from iCloud but it requires Advanced Data Protection off.
JaggedJax
Not affiliated, but Immich (https://immich.app/) is a great self-hosted alternative to iCloud Photos.
PStamatiou
What is happening on the Photos team? I know a lot of the core team has left already, but lately it really seems like they are cramming in AI functionality in a way that does not consider the whole experience and it truly feels bolted-on. First they tried to mess with regular search and had to leave in a setting for people to go out of their way to disable it.
Google Photos used to be one of my most favorite apps. Now it's some testing playground. I'm sure some new startup is approaching this area so the cycle can repeat.
jsheard
> lately it really seems like they are cramming in AI functionality in a way that does not consider the whole experience and it truly feels bolted-on.
"They" could be just about any major software vendor as of late, it's hardly specific to Google.
jama211
Apple is avoiding it more somewhat, but perhaps more due to being behind on the tech itself
thewebguyd
> but lately it really seems like they are cramming in AI functionality in a way that does not consider the whole experience and it truly feels bolted-on.
I feel that everywhere, not just Google. Windows is probably one of the most egregious with copilot being jammed into every app.
None of this "AI" stuff feels integrated or even thought out at all. The whole thing is just bolted on and it feels like the only reason is so they can say "see, we have AI too! Now give us money" to investors.
gwbas1c
Today on Gemini one of their suggested activities is to upload a selfie and have it make you look '80s.
I uploaded a selfie with a kinda-sorta '80s haircut and it completely changed my gender.
hereme888
Idk who talks to a phone out loud in order to edit a picture. Was there a market asking for this function?
plorg
Meanwhile they nuked a bunch of actually useful conventional and device-local editing functionality in the same app.
xnx
Oh no. What did they remove?
jajuuka
I was just thinking something like this would be nice. I wanted to remove a shadow from a picture but lasso tools weren't picking it up. After some Googling found a tool in Samsung Gallery to do it. It still tried to steer me towards generative edits instead though.
But just telling it "remove the shadow from this image" would be great.
HumblyTossed
I first read that as controversial editing. I'm not sure I was wrong.
fulafel
Does this require associating your phone with a G account?
jjice
I believe so. I'd imagine the image has to be uploaded to Google Photos as well, since most of their nice features like personal tagging require that.
Part of the reason I switched to an iPhone was for all the on device stuff that Google insists you use the cloud for.
scottyah
Same, the google phones just absolutely hated that I went into airplane mode frequently but still wanted to do things like listen to music, view and edit notes, etc. God forbid I try to add to my shopping list while camping.
the_gipsy
Just yesterday I wanted to simply take the first frame of one of those stupid "motion" photos (that someone else took, but could have happened to me given the weekly UI churn). I tried really hard, but it's just not possible.
What I did find was many, many different buttons and icons that start some kind of AI magic enhancement crap.
ktosobcy
Uhm... I'm probably "consevative" but if I take a photo I want to have a photo of the moment and not "a variation of the moment"... o_O
bahmboo
The original is always kept and is easy to see
lxgr
Have you never taken a time-sensitive photo that was otherwise perfect but has an annoying visual obstruction (e.g. traffic sign poles, a reflection on a windshield for photos taken out of a moving car etc.)?
ipaddr
No because it captures the moment.
IncreasePosts
How exactly does it capture the moment? Almost certainly, the camera doesn't capture what your eyes do, even without advanced computational photography because of lens effects, color range, etc...so what moment is being captured? The moment of the camera?
SketchySeaBeast
Enhance. Enhance. Enhance.
Honestly surprised to see such a quick turn around on what was a Pixel 10 exclusive feature. I guess they did that for Circle to Search too.
xnx
Glad to see that these features aren't artificially limited to specific hardware, often under the pretense that some advanced "AI chip" is necessary.
acka
These features are limited to a specific demographic (those who are 18+ and live in the US) and are 'eligible' (whatever that means) though.
SketchySeaBeast
Google certainly has to walk a fine line here because it's not like the hardware they are selling is compelling by itself.
xnx
True. Being "stock" (free of unremovable spyware/crapware) and getting OS updates are the primary benefits of Pixel devices for me.
renewiltord
Okay that's a cool feature. This is a good place to use this technology.
It is interesting, though, that Google's products have suffered so much regression as AI has advanced. In the past I could search my images with "Subaru" and reliably get photos. Now it's clearly a subset.
Same with Google's voice assistant which was actually more capable 5 or 6 years ago.
I get it. It's probably easier to maintain with a general purpose LLM or diffusion model behind the scenes or whatever. It's just a pity that the PMs and engineers who made the good stuff have either lost their positions or have changed their minds.
Not affiliated, but Immich (https://immich.app/) is a great self-hosted alternative to Google Photos.