New Instagram-inspired text options may be headed to Google Photos (APK teardown)

Typically, you’d find Instagram — or other Meta apps — aping apps from different publishers. But in a peculiar instance, Google may be copying something that has existed on Instagram. Google Photos may soon get a new video editor, and we’ve recently discovered evidence of an improved set of options for adding text to videos.

Google is testing the option to add elaborate text, similar to Instagram stories and Reels, to media in the Google Photos app. We discovered this change being tested in version 7.49 of the Google Photos app for Android, where Google is currently testing the ability to add text over videos with much more control than possible in the options currently available to users. These changes are likely part of the new video editor in Google Photos that is also being tested.

In the newer set of options, the video editor in Google Photos would let you change attributes such as font style, color, and alignment. This is a significant upgrade over the current option for adding text over videos, which is crude, offers only a single font type, and lacks alignment options. Many of the new fonts we see here closely resemble Instagram’s options, though with subtle differences and somewhat novel names.

The upgraded text editor also brings far many more color options than currently available in Photos. While the existing text features only let you choose among seven basic colors, the updated menu offers dozens more, with subtle shifts between shades. We still don’t see a blotter or automatic color suggestions, as we do with Instagram, but you wouldn’t feel the dearth of options. The new editor also brings the option add a highlight to the text as a background.

Here’s a video demonstrating how the feature could work:

As mentioned above, these features are still under trial and haven’t been rolled out widely. We will ensure to inform you once the features are available for a broader user base to try out.