Google Photos Real Tone filters are rolling out on iPhone & iPad now

By Oliver Haslam
published

Google Photos app on iPhone
Google Photos app on iPhone (Image credit: Google)

What you need to know

  • Google Photos has launched Real Tone filters for iPhone, iPad, web, and Android users.
  • Real Tone filters are designed to preserve skin tones during editing.
  • The Real Tone filters feature was previously only available to those using Google Pixel Android phones.

Google Photos is now rolling its Real Tone filters out to users of iPhones, iPads, and the web. Those who are using an Android device can also take advantage of the new feature.

Real Tone filters are designed to help people add filters to their photos while ensuring that skin tones appear as accurately as possible, something that standard filters often struggle with. The feature has already been available for Pixel phone users for some time, but it's now available to everyone via the Google Photos.

The new Real Tone filters in Google Photos are starting to roll out today on Android, iOS, and web. These filters were designed by professional image makers to work well across skin tones, so you can choose the filter that reflects your style.

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Real Tone filters include "Playa," "Honey," "Isla" and "Desert" right now and it seems probable that we can expect more to be added in due course.

Those who already have Google Photos installed should be good to go now so long as they have the latest version of the app installed via the App Store. Everyone else will need to download the app afresh (opens in new tab) now — it's free, and these Real Tone filters arguably make it one of the best iPhone apps not only for organizing and saving photos but also editing them, too.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.