- Google Photos launches Recap 2025, an automatic year-end video summary with personal photos and videos.
- It includes new statistics such as selfie counts and data on people, places, and highlights.
- It can be customized by hiding people or images and regenerating the video with the changes.
- Gain advanced sharing and editing options, such as CapCut integration and WhatsApp shortcuts.
As the end of the year approaches, many users look back to review what has happened to them in recent months. In this context, the now classic year-end music or video summaries appear, and now also a new edition of the photo summary that automatically prepares Google Photos with your Recap 2025, a function that Turn your gallery into a short video with the most representative moments.
Compared to other proposals that are more focused on statistics, this Recap has a somewhat more emotional approach: Google's artificial intelligence selects scenes, people, and places it considers relevant.It adds visual effects, music, and some interesting facts about your camera activity. The result is A story of about two minutes that can be viewed on a mobile phone and easily shared via social media or messaging.
What exactly is Google Photos Recap 2025?
Google has been offering an annual summary within its Photos app for a couple of years now, and this time it's repeating the formula, but with noticeable improvements. The new Google Photos Recap 2025 generates a carousel-style video from your photos and videos from the year, presented with dynamic graphics and cinematic effects similar to those already seen in the Memories section.
The summary is organized into different thematic blocks: pets, trips, cities you've visited, celebrations, selfies, and moments with your most frequent contactsIn addition, Recap itself shows basic statistics about your year in pictures, such as the total number of photos you've taken, the people who appear most often, or the places you've visited most frequently.
This edition adds a new piece of information that does not go unnoticed: The selfie count, calculated thanks to facial recognition integrated into Google PhotosFor some it will be a simple curiosity; for others, a small reminder of how many times they have turned the camera towards themselves.
How to access the 2025 Recap in Google Photos
The rollout of Recap 2025 is gradual and is being automatically activated on Google Photos accounts worldwide. In many cases, a notification appears on your mobile device alerting you that Your year-end summary is now ready to view in the appalthough it doesn't always arrive at the same time for everyone.
There are several ways to locate the Recap within the application. In recent versions, Google places it within the Memories carousel on the main Photos tabmixed with the usual stories from previous years or specific trips. Swiping that carousel to the right should reveal a specific card with the 2025 summary.
In parallel, the summary is anchored in other sections: throughout the month of December It is fixed in the Collections tabThis makes it easier to revisit or share with someone without having to search through other memories. In some interfaces, a card labeled "Recap" or "Your Recap 2025" is also displayed within sections like "Memories" or "For You," depending on the region and app version.
If it still doesn't appear, Google considers another option: A notification may appear at the top of the application requesting that the Recap be generated.Simply tap that message to begin the video creation process. Depending on the number of photos and server load, the editing may take up to 24 hours to be fully completed.
Requirements for generating your annual summary
Not all accounts receive Recap at the same time or under the same conditions. Google sets a series of minimum requirements for the feature to be activated correctly and have content to work with. The first has to do with the organization of your gallery: the option to group faces It must be enabled in the Google Photos settings.
That feature can be found in the app's settings menu, within the preferences section. under a name similar to “Group similar faces” or “Group faces”. Without this grouping, the system has a harder time identify key people of your year y to offer statistics such as the ranking of most frequently appearing contacts or the selfie counter itself.
The second requirement has to do with the amount of content: It is necessary to have done enough photos and videos throughout the yearIf the gallery has barely been used or contains only a few items, Google Photos may decide that there isn't enough "raw material" to put together a meaningful Recap and therefore not display it.
Furthermore, It's a good idea to check that Google Photos backup and sync are enabled.especially if more than one device is used or if images are frequently deleted from internal storage. Recap itself can show A notification will appear requesting that the backup be enabled before starting to generate the video..
What's included in the Recap 2025 video
Once generated, the summary is presented as a story of about two minutes that condenses a whole year of photos and clipsWhen played, short scenes are linked together, capturing everything from big moments—trips, parties, family gatherings—to more everyday details that the AI considers representative.
Google combines all that material with transitions, animations, overlaid text, and musicaiming to give it an almost cinematic feel without requiring any editing from the user. The intention is that it can be watched in one sitting, like a trailer summarizing the year, and then shared with just a couple of taps.
Among the statistics included in the video, the following stand out: the most frequent faces, the total number of photos, and some interesting facts about how the camera has been usedSome summaries include references to streaks of consecutive days taking photos or to locations that were frequently visited. All of this is intended to provide context and reinforce the nostalgic feel.
In line with previous years' summaries, the Recap opts for a more emotional approach that is purely numerical. Although the figures play a role, much of the weight lies in the selection of scenes and how they are ordered to construct a mini visual history of what was experienced during the year.
Where and for how long will the summary be available?
Google has confirmed that Recap 2025 is now available since the beginning of Decemberand that its presence in the app will remain prominent throughout that month. During that period, the summary will continue to appear at the end of the Memories carousel and will also remain fixed in the Collections tab.
If it doesn't appear in your account in the first few days of December, it will normally be activated later, since the deployment is gradual and it may vary depending on the region and device. In Spain and the rest of Europe, it usually arrives a few days later than in other markets, provided the app is updated and the gallery usage requirements are met.
As the month progresses, it is foreseeable that lose prominence in the interface, although Google usually keeps previous versions of memories and summaries accessible from the Memories section itself. In any case, The video can be downloaded or saved internally.so that each user can decide whether to keep it as another file in their library.
In addition to the main summary, the company has announced that it will be showing more throughout December. other special compilations From 2025 within the app, focused on specific moments or certain types of content. These additional stories They follow the same aesthetic line as the Recap and they seek to extend that review of the year during the final weeks.
With this new edition of Recap, Google Photos consolidates a proposal that blend of nostalgia and automationThe app condenses an entire year into a short video that combines data, scenes, and some AI interpretation. It's not a perfect snapshot of what happened, but it does... a quick and quite convenient way to review memories that, otherwise, They would be lost among thousands of images in the cloud.
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