Google released an update for its Motion Stills app for iOS users and it packs new features that improve Live Photos. Sadly, the app is still unavailable for Android users.
The new Motion Stills app update from Google includes huge improvements for Live Photos taken from the latest iPhones. iOS users can now create cinemagraphs from their Live Photos thanks to the new update.
Users that want to make cinemagraphs can easily do so in the new Motion Stills version for the iOS. It freezes the non-moving area of the captured image while there is action in the foreground.
Google also added motion text as a new feature for the Motion Stills app. Developers Ken Conley and Matthias Grundmann said in their official blog post that the feature tracks 1000 FPS throughout the whole Live Photo for accuracy and speed.
"To make this possible, we took the motion tracking technology that we run on YouTube servers for 'Privacy Blur,' and made it run even faster on your device. How? We first create motion metadata for your video by leveraging machine learning to classify foreground/background features as well as to model temporally coherent camera motion," said the developers.
The metadata is then inputted to the algorithm that tracks the objects. It functions similarly to motion trackers found in Adobe's After Effects video editing program.
Another nifty feature is that all the Live Photos that come out are created with super-resolution detail thanks to Google's RAISR technology. It is automatically turned on for every video that the iOS user exports using the app.
Google's Motion Stills app is still not available for Android users but the Gboard app's transition could mean that the former could be released in the future as well, Venture Beat reported. Android smartphones do not have the Live Photos feature and it could be something of a hindrance for the developers.
Motion Stills can be updated automatically or manually through the iOS App Store. Users just need to make sure that they still have ample space for the update.
Learn more about the Motion Stills app in the video below: