Google is now adding the long-requested perspective correction tool to Google Photos for Android, reversing a painful snub absent from the company’s recent editor relaunch. With perspective controls back in play, the crop interface is once again served with those square-corner handles, which make precise adjustments feel more natural. It seems the feature is popping up without any need for a full app update, which indicates that it could be a server-side switch (a fact that our own sources at the company’s Photos team confirm).
The removal of the feature with the arrival of the refreshed editor irked power users and casual photographers alike. Google has publicly responded to the feedback and promised to reintroduce the tool. For an app that the company claims contains “trillions of images” and witnesses tens of billions in uploads each week, even minor editing tweaks send reverberations far and wide, particularly when they involve common touch-ups like straightening a building or squaring off a whiteboard shot.
What the Perspective Tool Actually Corrects
It also has perspective correction to restore an image distorted by the “keystone” effect, when parallel lines converge because you photographed a subject from beneath or off to one side. Think of a photograph of a tall skyscraper, or the slightly askew snap of a poster. Instead of just rotating an image, you can tilt its frame vertically and horizontally, or perform freeform transforms to reintroduce geometry so that lines are straightened and surfaces end up face-on.
It’s not just for architecture. It works for things like document scans, slides on a classroom screen, gallery artworks, or even just the product box sitting on your desk. This is because correcting perspective can help reduce visual distraction and increase legibility, which is why similar tools have been table stakes for years in pro editors like Adobe Lightroom and in Google’s own Snapseed app.
Where to Find It in the New Google Photos Editor
Open any photo in Google Photos, tap Edit, and choose Crop. The classic square-corner crop frame will return, but you should also notice perspective controls that allow both vertical and horizontal adjustments as well as a freeform tweak. The re-added design also provides more visual cues for making delicate frame-by-frame adjustments, especially when matching Ken Burns effect edges.
The rollout seems to be gradual. If you don’t have perspective controls showing up, then force-close the app and check again later, as many Google Photos features come with a server-side update that is separate from a version bump in the Play Store. The rollout is Android-only at the moment, although this may change as Google progresses with the staged rollout.
Why the Perspective Tool’s Return in Google Photos Matters
Google Photos is mixing in AI-based tools, like Magic Eraser or content-aware suggestions, with building-block edits like crop, rotate, and exposure. The perspective tool is in that basic tier. It’s the kind of fix that you naturally reach for minutes after taking a picture, rather than a special effect you chase some of the time. Bringing it back updates the app to better serve the day-to-day requirements of shooters on mobile who want raw, in-place editing without having to export out into another app.
It also helps Google Photos compete with default editors from major phone manufacturers. Apple’s Photos app and Samsung’s Gallery have strong geometry adjustments; third-party editors have upped the game with fine-tuned transform tools. For Android users who count on Photos as their default center of command for backups, sharing, and quick touch-ups, getting back perspective correction minimizes friction and packs more of the workflow into one bag.
Pro Tips for Cleaner Edits in Google Photos
- If fixing a really bad keystone, you can make slight vertical and horizontal shifts before performing the freeform correction.
- Use obvious straight lines — door jambs, building corners, book spines — as guides.
- If edges crop too close after correction, experiment with Photos’ crop suggestions or retain some negative space to maintain composition.
- For documents and receipts, match the longest edge first; this generally cuts down on follow-up adjustments.
The Bottom Line on Perspective Correction in Google Photos
Perspective correction is back in its rightful place within Google Photos, and with it comes the reappearance of the crop UI’s square-corner handles.
If you’ve been trying to use third-party apps with extra layers for straightening angles, take a look at your Photos app editor — the tool is likely already there. The tweak may seem minor on paper, but for millions of day-to-day edits, it’s a quality-of-life improvement that brings back one of mobile photography’s most helpful touch-ups.
