Updated Google Photos uses AI to animate and auto-rotate your pictures... and more

Google Photos has received a fairly significant update that sees the arrival of four key new features. Three of them are focused on sharing and viewing your photos, but the fourth is an AI-powered auto-rotate function that ensures you'll no longer have to look at photos on their sides.

As Pixel and Pixel XL owners (as well as other Android users who don't mind a drop in quality) have unlimited Google Photo storage at their disposal, Google is introducing a Facebook-style restrospective feature. Google says it will "make it easier to look back at your fondest memories", but there is more to discover.

In addition to photographic memories, the latest update also makes it easier to cast an eye over recent highlights from your collection. Taking the form of Cards on the Assistant tab of Google Photos, this machine learning-driven feature is an interesting way to surface great photos from recent weeks.

Building on its ability to create animations from photos, Google has now introduced a feature that creates animations from videos. If that sounds a little strange, it's really just Google's take on 'live photos', again leveraging machine learning. Videos you shoot are automatically analysed for "segments that capture activity" which are then pulled out into an easily-sharable animation.

All four new features are available right now online, as well as in the iOS and Android apps.