UPDATE: Google Photos for Android and iOS are now live. The web interface — photos.google.com — appears to be rolling out in stages, with some folks able to access it while others are being told to check back later.
Google is separating its photo album feature out of Google+ and making a dedicated service out of it. The service, called Google Photos, focuses on three major features: a home for your photos, an easy way to organize them, and quick sharing.
Google Photos will automatically back up your photos, regardless of whether they were taken on your phone, your tablet, or on your camera’s memory card. And when you’re viewing photos, you can pinch to zoom to view them by days, months, and even year. This will also help you quickly scrub through all of your images.
When it comes to organizing your images, Google Photos will automatically place the shots into sections like people, places, and more. And you don’t need to organize them yourself, because Google Photos will recognize faces for you.
Finally, Google Photos aims to make editing and sharing images easier. You can edit your photos in-app and create albums, collages, and movies with soundtracks. When you want to share an image, you can do so using a service or simply by generating a link and sending it to someone, which will direct them to Google Photos’ home on the web.
Google Photos is launching today on Android, iOS, and the web. The service will offer unlimited free backup of images and videos, supporting photos up to 16 megapixels and videos up to a resolution of 1080p.