Google Photos for Android Now Does Non-Destructive Editing

Google announced this week that its Google Photos app on Android now supports non-destructive editing. You’re now free to make drastic changes without worrying about writing over the original file, because all edits are now reversible.

Starting in version 1.17 of the app, which is being rolled out in the Google Play Store, original photos are untouched in the editing process, regardless of whether you save your edits or save a new copy of your photo.

Prior to this change, Google Photos was less advanced with how it handled images — while it helped to preserve your original files, its strategy was to save a new version of your image every time you edited and saved a shot. The new non-destructive editing system prevents many copies of the image from appearing on your device.

You can download Google Photos for Android for free over in the Play Store.