Microsoft has made a surprise update to its Windows Photos app. The update is for people who are in the Canary or Dev Insider channels. It includes a number of new features, along with some other improvements and bug fixes. Here is the changelog:
New Slideshow Experience
- This was a top feature request we received from the community since launching the new Photos app in Windows 11 last Fall. You can now relive your memories and view photos in a slideshow format, complete with transitions, animations, and 25 original music soundtracks to choose from. Click on any photo to start the slideshow or choose multiple photos to watch them together.
Timeline Scrollbar
- This was another top feature request. We are re-introducing the timeline scrollbar to the All Photos, OneDrive, and iCloud Photos gallery views which groups photos by year and month. With the scrollbar, you can now easily jump to any point in time and find the photos you want.
Spot Fix
- Use the Spot Fix feature to remove blemishes or unwanted areas in your photo
Other Fixes and Improvements
- Auto Enhance is now available for use without having to install the 93MB add-on.
- When importing photos from external devices, you can now drag and drop to choose the photos you want and use the quick toggle to confirm the files that have been selected.
- Hidden iCloud Photos will no longer display in the gallery.
- Fixed an issue where audio on video files is muted by default. The app now plays the audio by default and persists user settings across videos.
- Copying and pasting a photo from the Photos app into Outlook and Teams now inserts the image inline by default instead of adding an attachment.
- Multi-select photos: hold down the SHIFT key while selecting photos in the gallery now selects multiple consecutive photos in a row; holding down the CTRL key selects multiple non-consecutive photos.
Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev channels can now update their Photos app to version number 2023.11050.2013.0 or higher to get the new version.