After the Journal app came to older devices this month, Google looks to be bringing Pixel Studio to the Pixel 8 series with a new ability to animate images and share them as GIFs.
The Pixel Studio support article was recently updated to say that the image generation and editing app is “available on the Pixel 8 and later.” This line previously said “Pixel 9 and later,” with no changes to regional availability.
However, this expanded support is not yet live and opening the Google Play listing today does not let you install the app. Outside of image generation, Pixel 8 users will get a new screenshot and general-purpose editor that replaces Markup. It was introduced with the Pixel 10 series and then came to the Pixel 9 with version 2.0 of the app in August.
Meanwhile, the updated support page also details a new “Animate image” capability.
- Tap Animate image.
- Enter a prompt or select a suggested prompt above the text box.
- Once the animation is ready, you can add stickers or captions when you tap Add sticker or caption.
Of note is how you can share it as a GIF afterwards, with a WebP file also available. This is presumably powered by Veo.
This feature was also mentioned in the Pixel Drop leak earlier this month. What likely happened is that the Pixel Studio update was pulled at the last second, but the support page was updated anyways.
All of this is presumably slated for the next Feature Drop, which is probably coming with the launch of Android 16 QPR2. However, the fact we had a big November update does make it less of a sure-fire development.
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