Google Photos has introduced a small but useful new feature for iOS users: the ability to turn personal photos into custom stickers by removing the background. The rollout, however, is limited to iPhone and iPad, with no sign of an Android release in the near future.
The feature works by automatically detecting a clear subject in the foreground of an image. After a second or two, a shimmer effect outlines the subject, signaling that it can be isolated as a sticker. From there, users can either copy the cut-out image to their clipboard or share it directly into apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messages.
According to Google’s support documentation, the results work best with photos where the subject is well-defined against the background. Once created, stickers can’t be edited further. The feature requires iOS 17 or later.
While this update helps Google Photos stay competitive with Apple’s native Photos app — which has supported similar background-cutout stickers for some time — its absence on Android is puzzling. Samsung phones, for example, have offered their own built-in subject extraction tools for years. By restricting the feature to iOS, Google appears to be focusing on closing parity gaps with iPhone users rather than prioritizing its own ecosystem.
For Android users, there’s no word on when, or if, background removal for stickers will arrive. Given how widely third-party apps already offer this functionality, Google’s decision to leave its core platform waiting feels like an odd omission.
