Google Photos tests AI‑powered “Video Remix” feature called Soba

Google Photos’ Android app now contains a new “Soba” button in the Create tab, signalling the upcoming launch of an AI‑driven Video Remix tool that will let users reshape existing video clips with natural‑language prompts [1]. The button replaces the familiar “Remix” icon with a YouTube‑style play symbol overlaid by Google’s Gemini sparkle, and internal test strings show the existing “Remix” button will be renamed “Photo Remix” to avoid confusion [1].

The hidden feature appears to be built around Google’s Gemini Omni model, the company’s latest multimodal video‑generation engine that supports “conversational editing” and can apply effects to specific moments while leaving the rest of the footage untouched [1]. If the Soba rollout follows the pattern of the earlier Photo Remix feature, users may initially see a limited set of presets rather than full‑blown freeform editing, mirroring Photo Remix’s rollout from July 2025 that started with four presets and later expanded to thirteen [1]. That cautious approach suggests Google wants to keep the tool safe and simple for the mass market, even though the underlying model can generate far more sophisticated transformations.

Forbes’ forensic analyst AssembleDebug uncovered the code, confirming that the Soba icon and the rename logic are already in the app, though the actual video‑processing code is not yet present [1]. The discovery aligns with a separate report that describes how Gemini Omni’s context‑aware capabilities could let a user say, for example, “turn my backyard clip into a clay‑mation scene” or apply a stylistic filter only to a birthday cake moment, leaving the rest of the video unchanged [2]. Both sources agree that the feature is still in its infancy and not functional in the current release.

If Google delivers on this vision, the personal video library could become an interactive canvas, lowering the barrier to professional‑grade editing and potentially reshaping how users curate their digital memories. However, the lack of full Gemini Omni integration and the likely preset‑only launch mean power users may find the early version underwhelming. The key question now is how quickly Google will move from hidden code to a public rollout, and whether the eventual tool will offer true conversational editing or remain a curated set of effects.