In what is clearly a move aimed at bettering the not-so-popular Google photos app, the Alphabet subsidiary has now acquired New York-HQed Fly Labs, a startup which helps content creaters easily apply filters to videos and images they create.
Via its editing platform, Fly Labs aims to help people make the most of their photos and videos. In the last 18 months, the startup’s video editing apps have been downloaded more than 3 million times in over 150 different countries. More than 20 million videos have been created with apps made by Fly Labs.
The company also made it pretty clear that it is being integrated into Google Photos team. In an announcement on its website, FlyLabs stated,
We’re excited to continue on our mission by joining Google and the Google Photos team in Mountain View, California. Google Photos is a home for your life’s memories, powered by Google’s machine learning and computer vision technology.
Also, in lieu of this acquisition, all of Fly Labs apps will be now completely free with no in-app purchases. The apps will be available on the App Store for another 3 months – so you can still download them and use them to get creative with video.
The team however will not be submitting any more updates to the apps. Once the apps are removed from the App Store you will still be able to use them, but they will no longer be available for download. They will continue to be available on Play Store though.
