Upgrade: Your Older Google Device May Get Some Pixel 9 Features

If you’ve been contemplating upgrading your older Google Pixel with one from the Pixel 9 series launched this August because of certain exclusive features, you might want to give it a second thought and wait a while, because there is good news in the offing.

Users of older devices such as Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro could reportedly get a free upgrade to certain camera and editing features which were exclusive to Pixel 9. Google often integrates some features of its latest releases into older phones, and this time, it includes two major ones: Auto Frame and Reimagine.

This information came from a report of an APK teardown by Assemble Debug, an Android Authority contributor, who found code in the Google Photos app that implied the company might soon make these Pixel 9 exclusives available for older models.

Three versions of the Google Photos app were revealed by the teardown in particular: a version for the new Pixel 9 series; one for Android devices that aren't Pixels; and one for Pixels that were released between 2021 and 2023, including Pixel 6, Pixel 7, and Pixel 8 series.

The Auto Frame and Reimagine features—which were only available on the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 9 Pro Fold—have now been discovered in the Google Photos app's code (v6.99) for the Pixel models manufactured in 2021–2023. This suggests that older Pixel models may get access to these tools.

Auto Frame in the Magic Editor app on Google Pixel 9 is an AI-powered feature that can automatically reframe a photo to enhance its composition. With the help of Google Photos' AI, Auto Frame can analyse a picture and recommend better framing choices. It can automatically crop an image if the background appears cluttered, or it can fill in blank spaces to create a wider frame.

Magic Editor's Reimagine feature allows you to use AI to alter the appearance of objects in a photo by moving around the subjects, erasing objects, etc. You just have to tap on the objects you wish to change, and in the text field, type a prompt outlining the change. For instance, Reimagine can change a daytime picture to a night-time one and add a completely new object like a tree in the frame, or maybe even a UFO hovering over your head.

These two tools are intended to simplify and improve photo editing, at the same time, bring out your creativity with pictures. So if they’re going to be available on older Pixel devices, it’s a more inclusive and welcome move.

The APK teardown, however, revealed that the standard Google Photos app does not have these editing capabilities for non-Pixel Android users.

Although the exact date of the rollout is unknown, it might happen with a future Feature Drop update. For Pixel devices, Feature Drops are automatic software updates that bring new features and functionalities.