Google Photos will now let you pinch-to-zoom on videos as they play

Google Photos is finally getting a feature that I’ve been a bit jealous of iPhones for having – pinch-to-zoom on videos! First spotted by Android Police, double-tapping on the video as it plays will allow you to zoom in, and dragging your finger over it will let you pan across to see details up close as events unfold.

The update should hit your Chromebook, and phone via a server-side switch when Google feels like it (staged rollouts are fun, said no one ever) so long as your app is up to date. The app version is seemingly irrelevant, but it can’t hurt to play it safe. If you have your apps auto-update, there’s no action needed on your behalf.

I’ve noticed that a lot of Google’s app updates don’t hit devices in the United States until they’ve first drop for devices in India and other countries. Maybe that’s the company’s way of showing that they’re trying to be more open and diverse with their support since they’ve faced criticisms in the past for supporting the U.S. and Canada only with their products and services.

Just to be sure, I should mention that this is not for the Google Photos web app, but rather for the Google Play app found below. Google Photos on the web often receives the same features as its downloadable counterpart, but when it comes to touch and swipe-enabled features, Google is still getting its ducks in a row with PWAs (which are capable of such actions). If you’re interested in using the Google Photos app on your Chromebook, you’ll be happy to know that it recently received an updated layout for laptops and tablets – one point for apps!