Google Pixel Magic Editor won't let you edit IDs, faces, other photos

Google doesn't want you potentially breaking laws with its Magic Editor app on Pixel phones.

Android Authority combed through the latest Google Photos update and found strings of code pertaining to Magic Editor, the new Pixel 8 feature that lets you do some light Photoshop-esque things with just a few taps of the finger. To be more specific, the code refers to error messages that would pop up when trying to edit any of the following, per Android Authority:

• Human faces or body parts

• Identifiable personal information

• Selections that are too large for the app to process

• Photos of IDs or other forgeable documents

This is something that makes a lot of sense, so much so that you wonder why these error messages weren't already present in Magic Editor at launch. Android Authority said an older version of the app didblock it from making some of the above edits, but not all of them.

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For what it's worth, Magic Editor isn't nearly as good at photo editing as someone with a deft Photoshop hand would be. Any kind of forged document made with it would probably be pretty easy to spot if you looked at it for a few seconds. But Google doesn't want to take any risks, which is the right move.

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If you want to commit fraud, you'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way.