Google Photos adds a Redact tool to blur out plates, addresses, and other sensitive info
Google Photos gained a batch of new features on September 24, 2026, with the most broadly useful being Redact — a tool that pixelates sensitive details in photos before you share them. License plates, home addresses, and other identifying info can now be selected and blurred out directly in the app, no third-party editor needed. It's part of the updated Markup toolkit and rolls out globally on Android.
The Redact tool
Redact works by letting you draw over any area of a photo and converting it into a pixelated block. Android Authority notes it offers multiple redaction styles — Mosaic, Mosaic Light, and Blur — depending on how heavily you want to obscure the content. The same Markup update also brings new fonts and brush/marker thickness sliders. Samsung, OPPO, and OnePlus have offered similar redaction tools at the system level, so Google is now catching up inside its own Photos app, where the feature works regardless of which phone you're using.
Google Photos' new Redact tool lets you pixelate license plates, addresses, and other sensitive details before sharing.
Wardrobe, Gemini Spark, and the paywall
The bigger AI features come with strings attached. Wardrobe — an AI closet tool that scans your photo library to catalog clothes and accessories for outfit ideas — is now available on both Android and iOS, but only in the US, India, and Brazil, per TechCrunch. It also requires a Google AI Pro ($20/month) or AI Ultra ($30/month) subscription. There's no free-tier version.
Gemini Spark integration goes further: AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the US can now find and edit photos using plain-text prompts — type what you're looking for and Gemini locates or adjusts it. The rollout is gradual, English-only, and restricted to users aged 18 and over. No international timeline has been announced, which fits Google's cautious approach to AI feature expansion amid ongoing regulatory scrutiny in the EU and UK.
Also in this update
Android users get a new Moods filter set with vintage styles — 35mm film grain, early-2000s digicam, and retro contrast. Both Android and iOS users in select countries can access 15 new Remix templates for AI-driven photo transformations styled around red carpets and photo booths.
Redact is the one feature here that works for everyone with an Android device, right now. The rest depends on where you live and whether you're paying for Google's AI subscription tier — a pattern that signals Google is increasingly splitting Photos into a free core and a paid AI layer.
