You Can Now Turn Old Photos into Ultra HDR with Google Photos

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Ever snapped a photo and thought that this looked better in real life? Well, I have. Lighting, colors, and those subtle details don’t always translate perfectly on camera, especially when you’re using your phone in less-than-ideal conditions. Well, Google knows this, which is why it’s now letting you convert your regular photos to Ultra HDR.

Google Photos can now Ultra HDR-ify your old photos

Google Photos is now rolling out a feature that lets you convert your regular photos to Ultra HDR, as reported by Android Authority. Yep, even your old shots can get the glow-up. The option lives in the “Adjust” tab inside the Google Photos editor and is starting to show up in v7.24.0.747539053. There’s also a slider to control how strong the Ultra HDR effect is, just like with other editing tools in the app.

Credits: Android Authority

Google introduced the Ultra HDR format with Android 14, allowing for images that pack in a wider range of color and brightness. Photos enhanced with Ultra HDR tend to look more vivid on displays that support HDR, but they also remain backward-compatible with non-HDR screens. That’s because the format includes both SDR and HDR versions of the image in a single file.

Interestingly, these images don’t take up more space. In fact, they can be smaller. Ultra HDR uses a gain map, a smaller file that stores brightness information separately. This helps devices recreate those bright, punchy visuals without a big jump in file size.

If you want to see if Ultra HDR is live for you, try editing a photo and check the Adjust tab. After applying it, swipe up on the image to see the “Ultra HDR” label in the details. If it’s there, your gallery just got a serious upgrade. If you don’t see it yet, don’t worry. It’s a server-side update, so Google has to flip the switch for you.

Written by

Abhinav Anand

Abhinav Anand is the News Editor at SammyGuru and a technology journalist based in New Delhi. Before joining SammyGuru, he contributed to numerous outlets, including Android Headlines, ExtremeTech, The Mac Observer, Financial Express, Economic Times, iGeeksBlog, KnowTechie, PhonesWiki, SlashGear, and more. You can reach him at [email protected].

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