Microsoft is testing new updates to its Photos app for Windows 11, including a Spot Fix tool for fixing photo imperfections and a new slideshow feature. Windows 11 testers in the Canary and Dev channels can access these new features immediately and they should be available to all Windows 11 users in the coming months.
The new slideshow experience lets you view your photos in a slideshow format with the usual animations and transitions and low-cost soundtracks. “This was an important feature request we’ve received from the community since the launch of the new Photos app in Windows 11 last fall,” says Yvonne Hsieha main product manager for Windows Photos.
Microsoft is also bringing back another top feature request: timeline scroll bar. This scrolls through points in time and finds photos by year and month, especially useful if you’re looking for a reminder of a particular year.
The latest addition is a Spot Fix tool that helps you remove blemishes or “unwanted areas” from photos. That may sound like the Magic Eraser feature Google offers, but unfortunately it’s more of a touch-up tool that tries to match the content of the rest of the photo. You can resize the spot, but it’s not the same as being able to select an object and make it magically disappear.
Microsoft has gradually improved its Photos app over the past year. The Windows 11 2022 update introduced a new photo management UI in the Photos app with a gallery, improved browsing, and the ability to easily back up photos to OneDrive cloud storage.
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