Google Photos readies Video Unblur, possibly for Pixel 8

After debuting Photo Unblur on the Pixel 7 series, Google is preparing a new Video Unblur tool to make your videos look crisp and clear, along with a handful of video effects.

About APK Insight: In this “APK Insight” post, we’ve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), we’re able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. We’ll try to enable those that are closer to being finished, however, to show you how they’ll look in the case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.

Video Unblur

With the release of the Pixel 7 series, Google Photos gained a new “Photo Unblur” tool that uses the Tensor chip’s machine learning capabilities to neatly sharpens images. Importantly, this works regardless of whether you took the photos recently on a Pixel phone or decades ago on an old-school camera.

While the Magic Eraser tool that debuted on the Pixel 6 has recently become a premium feature on other phones through Google One, Photo Unblur has so far remained exclusive to Google’s newest phones. With rumors and leaks about the Pixel 8 now beginning to surface, our team has found that Google is working on bringing that same unblur tool to videos.

As seen in the screenshots below, our team has managed to forcibly enable the UI for Google’s Video Unblur, but for now, the tool has no noticeable effect on videos. Most likely, the effect has not been fully developed yet. Once it works, we expect Video Unblur will give previously captured videos a sharper appearance with the help of machine learning.

Given the attention Google has been giving Photo Unblur, attempting to popularize the phrase “Fixed on Pixel,” it’s no surprise to see the company expand to support videos. In all likelihood, Video Unblur may also be a Pixel series exclusive, perhaps debuting later this year on the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Nothing in the code currently ties Video Unblur to the Pixel series, but it’s clearly still early in development.

The addition follows the same launch pattern as Google Photos’ HDR effect, which launched first for stills and later arrived for videos.

Video overlay effects

Elsewhere in Google Photos, we find that the company is preparing a set of effects that you can apply to videos. They’ll appear in a new “Overlays” tab when editing a video in the app.

Our team managed to enable the UI for these new effects, but much like Video Unblur, the overlays are not yet functional in the app.

In total, there are 14 video effects currently planned, some of which have a fairly obvious purpose based on the name. For example, “Chromatic” will likely add a chromatic aberration effect, while “VHS” and “Super 8” are likely designed to emulate the styles of those classic video formats.

Thanks to JEB Decompiler, from which some APK Insight teardowns benefit.