Microsoft is quietly adding a new Copilot plugin to its Photos app, but it appears that its abilities are pretty limited, at least for now. Windows enthusiast @PhantomOfEarth posted about the new Copilot plugin feature on his X (formerly Twitter) account this week.
The Microsoft Photos app is getting a Windows Copilot plugin, which is used for actions like creating/viewing slideshows and setting the desktop background. It"s available with app version 2024.11030.22001.0. pic.twitter.com/WOyXRjrxaj
— PhantomOcean3 🌳 (@PhantomOfEarth) March 28, 2024
The version of the Photos app with this new AI feature has the build number 2024.11030.22001.0. If you have this version, just go to the Plugins section, and you should see a toggle that will turn the Copilot feature on.
However, this first edition of this plugin seems to be limited to creating and viewing slideshows of your photos in the app, along with the ability to ask Copilot to set one of your photos as your desktop background. There"s no word on how many Windows users can access this new version of the Photos app.
There are some other changes in this app update, such as an updated OneDrive Accounts section in settings. pic.twitter.com/aCYfnHMMRN
— PhantomOcean3 🌳 (@PhantomOfEarth) March 28, 2024
In a follow-up post on X, "PhantomOcean3" notes another change in this version of Photos. That includes an updated section in the settings where you can add your Microsoft account to view the images that are stored in your OneDrive cloud account.
In November 2023, Microsoft added some other AI-based features to the Photos app for members of the Windows Insider program. They included a way to remove and replace background images in photos. The app also got some improvements to its Filmstrip feature and added a Timeline Scrollbar based on the time range of your images.