Google will roll out AI image editing capabilities for its Photos app on Android and iOS starting May 15. A select group of Chromebooks are also among the lucky ones, but Windows falls by the wayside.

Google Photos’ AI photo editing capabilities will be available on more devices starting May 15, with no subscription required, the tech giant confirmed in a blog post. Using artificial intelligence, you can adjust the exposure and brightness of your photos. With the Magic EThe editor can move your objects or even delete them completely. The features were already available today on Google’s latest Pixels and Samsung Galaxy S24 models.

With the broad rollout, almost all Android and iOS devices will have access to the image editing functions. Your device must only be running Android 8.0 or iOS 15 (or whatever comes after that) and must have at least 3 GB of RAM, with the wipe function requiring 4 GB. Google doesn’t charge any additional fees or subscriptions, although Magic Eraser is limited to 10 edits per month if you don’t have a valid Google One subscription.

Limited rollout on Chromebooks, nothing for Windows

The rollout on Chromebooks will be rather limited. You will first need a Chromebook Plus and the software must be updated to ChromeOS 118 or newer. But a handful of Chromebooks will be able to meet these conditions.

Google makes the conspicuous decision to ignore Windows completely. AI features like Magic Eraser require robust hardware and Google doesn’t seem to think Windows PCs can handle them, even the select group that Intel and Co. market as AI PCs. Unfortunately for PC owners, the image editing features are also not available in the web version of Photos.

Microsoft is working on its own image editing functions for the Windows Photos app. These can run on your Windows PC, although Microsoft doesn’t always clearly outline its hardware requirements for AI.