Google Photos video editor just regained a fan-favorite tool

Google Photos appears to be quietly restoring a feature removed from the app a few months ago.

Version 7.71.0.895417930 of the Google Photos app for Android now restores the “Effects” option in the video editor, which was unceremoniously scrapped following last year’s redesign.

For those who don’t remember, the Effects option allows you to apply stylistic filters like Dust mix, paper tear, light leak, and more to your videos. It disappeared from the video editor options around December last year, but we can now confirm that Google is gradually restoring it for users.

The return of these video editor effects follows a pattern. After Google revamped the Photos editor in May 2025 and later updated the video editor in December, several tools disappeared. Since then, the company has been slowly restoring some of those missing features. Perspective correction is another such feature that Google Photos recently regained after it went missing for months.

Meanwhile, the reintroduced Effects option isn’t yet widely available. Google seems to have begun a limited rollout, meaning only a small number of users can currently see it in the video editor.