Google Photos version 4.38 includes a fix for a bug that prevents users from editing and saving High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) recordings uploaded from Android smartphones.
Spotted by Android Police, the bug surfaced earlier this month. Photos 4.29 introduced a fix for the same issue in November 2019, but then the bug came back. It affects phones that use the HEVC format for recording video and shows up when editing video in the Photos app. Users are unable to save edited HEVC video.
For those unfamiliar with the format, HEVC — also known as H.265 — is a successor to AVC or H.264 video formats. HEVC offers 25 to 50 percent better data compression at the same video quality or substantially improved video quality at the same bit rate. In other words, HEVC can be used to make video look better, or to look the same while taking up less space. On a smartphone, that’s especially important.
As such, several phones support HEVC, including ones from Samsung, OnePlus and Google. Although, it’s worth noting that on Pixel devices, you have to manually enable HEVC in the ‘Advanced’ section of the Camera settings.
If you experience the bug, which prevents you from saving edited HEVC footage in Google Photos, you have a few courses of action. First and foremost, try updating to the latest version of Photos. That should fix the problem. However, if it doesn’t, or if you don’t yet have access to Photos version 4.38, record in the older H.264 format. It’ll take up more storage, but at least you’ll be able to edit the video after.
You can head to the Play Store to check for the latest updates for Google Photos.
Source: Android Police
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