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Google Photos Video Editor Rivals Capcut

Originally published on: December 10, 2025
▼ Summary

– The Google Photos app is receiving a major video editing update, including a redesigned editor, themed highlight reel templates, and options for custom text and music.
– The new highlight reel templates feature built-in music and text overlays that automatically sync with user-selected photos and videos.
– A key limitation is that the updated highlight reel feature and custom text overlays will only be available on the Android version of the app.
– The revamped video editor introduces a universal timeline for trimming and reorganizing clips, similar to interfaces found in apps like CapCut and Instagram.
– These updates to the video editor and music library are currently rolling out to both Android and iOS users, with availability varying.

The Google Photos app is rolling out a significant upgrade to its video editing capabilities, bringing a suite of new features that position it as a more robust creative tool. Users on both Android and iOS will find a completely redesigned editor interface, the introduction of themed templates for highlight reels, and new options for adding custom text and music directly to their videos. This overhaul brings functionality that closely mirrors popular standalone apps, offering a more integrated editing experience within the Google ecosystem.

A major focus of the update is the enhanced highlight reel feature. While this tool previously existed to compile selected photos and clips into a simple video, its options were quite basic. The new system provides stylized pre-made templates that include built-in music and coordinated text overlays. Your chosen media automatically syncs with these templates, creating a polished, themed video with minimal effort. It’s important to note that this specific update to highlight reels, along with the ability to add custom text overlays, is currently exclusive to the Android version of the app.

Beyond templates, the core video editor itself has been rebuilt. The new design centers on a universal timeline for trimming and reorganizing clips, a layout familiar to users of apps like CapCut and Instagram. This intuitive interface makes precise edits more straightforward. Furthermore, adding custom soundtracks and text has been simplified. The music browsing experience within Google Photos has been reworked, making it easier to find and apply the perfect audio track to any video project.

These improvements to the general video editor and the expanded music library are now in the process of rolling out. They are available for the Google Photos app on both Android and iOS platforms, and many users may already have access to the updated tools. This move signals Google’s commitment to transforming Photos from a passive storage library into an active, creative hub for video production.

(Source: The Verge)

Topics

google photos 100% video editing 95% highlight reels 90% app updates 85% android apps 80% ios apps 75% templates 70% text overlays 65% music integration 60% ui redesign 55%