Google Photos users can finally exhale a sigh of relief. After months of frustration and user complaints, Google has officially restored two key features that disappeared during this year's controversial interface overhaul. The perspective correction tool and the familiar square-cornered cropping interface are making their comeback, marking a rare instance of Google actually listening to user feedback and reversing unpopular changes.
This restoration comes at a crucial time when Google Photos has been pushing heavily into AI-powered editing features, often at the expense of manual tools that many users rely on daily. The summer's editor redesign introduced new AI capabilities but removed several beloved manual editing options, creating a significant backlash from the photography community. Now, with these features returning, Google appears to be finding a middle ground between innovation and user satisfaction.
The perspective tool's long-awaited return
Let's break down what exactly came back and why it matters so much. The perspective correction tool vanished during Google's summer interface update, leaving users without one of their most frequently used editing capabilities. This wasn't just any minor feature—the tool was essential for architectural photography and document scanning, allowing photographers to straighten leaning buildings and correct wonky angles with precision.
The sudden removal hit users particularly hard because they had come to depend on this tool for their daily photo editing workflow. Earlier this year, the app suddenly removed the basic straightening and skew adjustment tool, taking away one of its most useful editing features without any warning. Professional photographers and casual users alike found themselves scrambling for alternatives or reverting to desktop editing software for tasks they could previously handle directly in Google Photos.
Google had been promising the tool's return for several months, but users were starting to lose hope as weeks turned into months without any concrete timeline. The restoration finally arrived in version 7.55.0.835314738 of the app, though the rollout appears limited initially, likely controlled through server-side switches that haven't reached all users yet.
What makes this tool so valuable is its ability to provide granular control over geometric correction, allowing users to adjust each corner of an image independently. Whether you're fixing converging lines in tall building shots or straightening up scanned documents that weren't captured perfectly straight, this level of manual control simply can't be replicated by AI suggestions that often miss the photographer's specific intent.
For architectural photographers specifically, the Perspective Tool is vital for correcting converging lines in architectural photography, ensuring the walls of tall buildings appear vertical. Beyond professional use cases, everyday scenarios like document scanning, menu photography, or even straightening family photos benefit enormously from this precise control that AI algorithms struggle to match consistently.
Square corners make a comeback too
Here's something you might not have noticed but definitely felt: the cropping interface brackets. Google swapped the traditional square-cornered brackets for rounded ones during this year's redesign, and apparently, users weren't having it. Along with the perspective tool's return, those familiar square corners are back as well.
This might seem like a minor visual detail, but it speaks to something larger about user interface design and muscle memory. Sometimes the smallest changes can feel the most jarring, especially when they affect tools people use daily. The square brackets weren't just aesthetic—they provided clearer visual boundaries and felt more precise for detailed cropping work, giving users better visual feedback when making fine adjustments.
The psychological impact of interface familiarity extends beyond mere preference. When users develop workflows around specific visual cues, changing those cues forces them to rebuild their mental models of how the interface works. The interface changes were part of Google's broader push toward AI-guided editing workflows, but the company learned that completely abandoning familiar visual elements alienates experienced users who rely on established patterns for efficiency.
What this means for Google Photos' future direction
This reversal reveals something important about Google's approach to product development and the delicate balance between innovation and user retention. The summer redesign prioritized AI features like "Help me edit" over manual tools, pushing traditional editing controls deeper into the interface hierarchy where users had to navigate through multiple menu levels just to access basic adjustments that were previously front and center.
The redesign philosophy represented a fundamental shift in how Google views photo editing. Google has tucked manual editing tools deeper into the Photos UI to highlight AI features, transforming what used to be a simple two-tap process for adjusting basic settings like warmth into a three-tap journey through nested menus. This change reflected Google's belief that AI assistance should guide most editing decisions.
The backlash was swift and vocal, with photography enthusiasts and casual users alike expressing frustration over the missing perspective tool and cluttered interface. Google's July 2025 Google Photos editor redesign, with reorganized tools and AI features like "Help me edit," has sparked user backlash over missing options like perspective correction and a cluttered interface. The criticism went beyond mere resistance to change—users articulated specific workflow disruptions and capability losses that affected their daily editing needs.
Google's decision to restore these features suggests the company is learning to balance its AI ambitions with practical user needs. Google Photos has been on an AI tear for the past couple of years, introducing features like Ask Photos for natural language search and various AI-powered editing capabilities. However, this experience has taught them that removing established manual tools entirely creates more problems than it solves, particularly for users who prefer hands-on control over their editing process.
Moving forward, we can expect Google to continue integrating AI capabilities—that's clearly the long-term strategy. But this restoration signals a more nuanced approach where AI enhancement coexists with manual controls rather than replacing them entirely. The trend toward automation and AI assistance will continue, but hopefully with more consideration for different user preferences and use cases.
Finding the restored features in your app
Here's the practical stuff you need to know: both changes are now live in app version 7.55.0.835314738, though the rollout might be gradual. If you don't see the perspective tool immediately, don't panic—Google often uses server-side switches to control feature availability across their user base.
Now here's where things get a bit quirky. The Perspective Tool has finally made a comeback, although if you don't know where to look, you'll probably miss it. Unlike the original implementation where the perspective tool was readily accessible, the restored version requires a specific activation sequence that isn't immediately intuitive.
You need to move any corner of the photo inward slightly, or select one of the preset aspect ratio options, before the Perspective Tool icon appears. This means you can't just open a photo and immediately access the perspective tool like you used to—you need to trigger the cropping interface first, then the perspective option becomes visible.
PRO TIP: If you're having trouble finding the perspective tool, try selecting any aspect ratio preset (like 16:9 or 4:3) from the cropping options, and the perspective icon should appear in the toolbar.
What's also worth noting is that the new Perspective Tool currently only works for photos and is absent from the video editor. So while photo editors can celebrate, video creators will have to wait a bit longer for their geometric correction needs.
The rollout is limited for now, likely a server-side switch that hasn't reached all users yet. If you see the perspective crop icon, you're among the first to get it back, which could mean a wider rollout is coming.
Bottom line: Google Photos is slowly finding its way back to a more balanced approach between cutting-edge AI features and the reliable manual tools that users depend on. While the AI revolution in photo editing is far from over, this restoration shows that user feedback still carries weight when it's loud and persistent enough. Sometimes, the best innovation is knowing when not to fix what isn't broken—and Google seems to have learned that lesson through this particular interface overhaul.
The perspective tool's return, even with its quirky implementation, represents something bigger than just restoring a single feature. It signals that Google is willing to admit when they've gone too far in prioritizing automation over user control, and that's a promising sign for the future of manual editing tools in an increasingly AI-driven world.
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