Slideshow Maker App for Android: Free and No Watermark
Google Photos makes a slideshow with music for free. YouCut and FotoPlay say they add no watermark. MoShow charges to take its own off.
A slideshow on a phone is a short video of your photos in order, with a song underneath. The Create tab in Google Photos builds one for you, and Google’s help page for it mentions no charge, so start there. A separate app earns its place when you want more control over timing and transitions, or a ready-made style that Google does not offer.
We read Google’s help pages for Photos, then went through the Google Play listings of slideshow and video-maker apps and noted what each one says about watermarks, music and what you pay for. Of the eight apps this article listed in 2019, three are still on Google Play.
Make a slideshow in Google Photos
Google Photos has two tools for this. Both sit under Create at the bottom of the app.
Highlight video: the one with music
Google describes a highlight video as a video with music made from your photos and videos. To make one:
- Open Google Photos and tap Create, then Highlight video.
- Pick a template, or tap Select content to start from your own pictures.
- Choose the photos and videos yourself, or type a few words such as “Birthday” or “Japan” and let Photos choose.
- Review the video, change the clips, music or text if you want to, and tap Save.
Templates arrive with music, text and cuts matched to the beat. In the editor you can swap the song, choose which part of it plays, add text, reorder the clips and change the aspect ratio. To use a song stored on your phone, Google says you first have to allow Photos access to music and audio in Settings. There is a shortcut too: select several photos in the main grid, then tap Create and Highlight video.
The same help page gives two limits. An older phone may not be able to create highlight videos at all. And the music that comes with the feature is for personal, non-commercial use only, so keep it out of anything you plan to earn money from. The page says nothing about a watermark or a fee.
Animation: a quick GIF
Tap Create, then Animation, select your photos and tap Create. Google calls the result a quick-moving GIF. It has no music, its speed cannot be changed, and an animation cannot be edited once it is made.
The help page lists no separate Movie tool. For a video with music, highlight video is the one to use.
If you only want to watch your photos on a television, Google’s streaming help describes a slideshow of your Google Photos library that you start and control by voice. It needs a Google Nest display, or a Chromecast or Google TV device linked to a Google speaker or display.
Slideshow apps compared
| App | Maker | On Google Play | Watermark on free exports | Music | In-app purchases, US store |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouCut | InShot Video Editor | Free with ads, in-app purchases | None, the listing says | YouCut’s own tracks or your music | $2.99 to $59.99 |
| FotoPlay | FotoPlay Video Maker | Free with ads, in-app purchases | None, the listing says | Built-in tracks, or audio pulled from a video | $0.99 to $24.99 |
| YouTube Create | Google LLC | Free, no ads label, no purchases | Not mentioned | Royalty-free songs from the YouTube Shorts library | None |
| Canva | Canva | Free, in-app purchases | “No watermarks”, the listing says | Pre-licensed tracks in the free library | $1.49 to $300 |
| Scoompa Video | Scoompa | Free with ads, in-app purchases | Not mentioned | Built-in soundtracks or your own | $0.99 to $11.99 |
| Slideshow Maker | CloudEx Inc. | Free, in-app purchases | Not mentioned | Built-in tracks or songs on your phone | $2.99 |
| MoShow | Picadelic | Free, in-app purchases | Yes, until you pay for VIP | Included, with no detail given | $3.99 to $89.99 |
| PicPlayPost | Mixcord Inc | Free with ads, in-app purchases | Not mentioned | Free theme music or music on your phone | $0.99 to $27.99 |
The last column is the range Google Play’s US listing shows for in-app purchases. It runs from the cheapest item to the dearest, so it is not the price of one upgrade, and it changes with your country. Where a listing names what the money buys, we say so below.
Apps that say they add no watermark
YouCut is the plainest about it. Its listing says the app is free and never adds a watermark to your video, and that no banner ads sit on the screen while you edit. It has a photo slideshow maker that merges photos into a video, music from YouCut’s own collection or from your phone, and export up to 4K. Google Play does show an ads label and in-app purchases, and the listing does not say what those purchases unlock.
FotoPlay makes the same promise: a free photo slideshow maker with music and no watermark. Its listing offers built-in music with fade in and fade out, audio extracted from a video you already have, a voiceover, and frames sized for YouTube, TikTok and square posts. The same developer has a second app, Photo SlideShow & Video Maker, with a near-identical listing.
YouTube Create is Google’s own video editor. Google Play shows no ads label and nothing to buy. The listing says it combines videos, photos and audio, has more than 40 transitions, matches clips to the beat of a soundtrack and exports up to 4K. Music comes from the YouTube Shorts library. It says nothing either way about watermarks, and it is built for making YouTube videos, so it asks more of you than a slideshow app does.
Canva is a design app with a slideshow maker inside it. Its listing uses the words “free, no ads, no watermarks” and counts thousands of watermark-free videos and pre-licensed music tracks in the free library. Premium templates, audio and images belong to Canva Pro, the paid side of the app.
Simple slideshow makers
Scoompa Video does one thing. You select photos and videos and it plays them back at once as a slideshow, which you then adjust with styles, animated frames, stickers, text and filters. Music is one of its built-in soundtracks or a file of your own. The listing ends with “Free with ads” and says the video can be edited again after saving. It does not mention watermarks.
Slideshow Maker from CloudEx lets you set how long each photo stays on screen and how long the whole slideshow runs. Music is a built-in track or a song from your phone. The free edition shows a single in-app purchase at $2.99 on the US store, and there is a separate Slideshow Maker Pro sold for the same price. Neither listing says what the free edition holds back.
MoShow is the opposite kind of app. You pick the pictures and it applies a style, such as glitch, ripple or sparkle, with moving text. Its listing is clear about the free version’s limits because it lists what VIP adds: the MoShow watermark removed, saving in HD, longer slideshows with more pictures, and control over timing and the video’s shape. So expect the logo on a free export.
Collages and bigger editors
PicPlayPost was in the 2019 version of this article and is still here. It stitches photos and videos into a slideshow or a grid of up to nine frames, with free theme music or music from your phone, and shares in 1080p. The listing mentions adding a watermark or logo of your own. It does not say whether the free version adds one of its own.
CapCut, InShot and VN are full video editors that will also string photos together. None of their listings mentions watermarks, so they are not in the table.
Which one to pick
- A slideshow with music and nothing to install: a highlight video in Google Photos.
- No watermark and your own song: YouCut. Its listing commits to both.
- No ads and nothing to buy: YouTube Create, if you are willing to learn a proper editor.
- A finished look in a few taps: MoShow, accepting the logo or the VIP price.
- Pay once and be done: Slideshow Maker Pro from CloudEx, a paid app at $2.99 on the US store.
- Photos and clips side by side in a grid: PicPlayPost.
What happened to the old list
Filmora, which was FilmoraGo in 2019, is still on Google Play as Filmora: AI Video Editor & Maker, free with in-app purchases. Its listing is now about AI video and timeline editing and no longer uses the word slideshow. It says the watermark and the logo roll are removed with a Filmora Pro subscription, so expect both on a free export.
Pixgram, which the old article spelled Pigram, is still listed, free with ads and in-app purchases. Its listing promises music on photo slideshows and filters, calls the app by several different names along the way, and says nothing about watermarks.
Dayframe, PicFlow, Slide Labs and Photo FX Live Wallpaper no longer turn up in a search of Google Play. Three of the names are in use by other apps, which can mislead. The dayframe on the store today comes from Cardinal Blue and makes photo recaps for social media. Picflow is a tool for sharing galleries with clients and collecting their feedback. SlideLab builds presentations from a typed topic.
Slideshow Maker is a name many apps use, and we could not tell which one the old article meant. The CloudEx app is in the table on its own merits.
Quick answers
Does Google Photos have a slideshow maker?
Yes. Tap Create, then Highlight video for a video with music, or Animation for a silent GIF. Both are in the Google Photos app on Android.
Which slideshow maker app has no watermark?
YouCut and FotoPlay both say in their Google Play listings that they add no watermark, and Canva’s listing says “no watermarks”. MoShow and Filmora put one on free exports and remove it when you pay.
Can I add my own music to a photo slideshow?
Yes. Google Photos, YouCut, Scoompa Video, Slideshow Maker and PicPlayPost all say they accept music stored on your phone. In Google Photos you have to allow access to music and audio first.
Is there a free slideshow app with no ads?
Google Photos and YouTube Create show no ads label and no in-app purchases on Google Play. Canva, MoShow and Slideshow Maker show no ads label either, but all three sell something inside the app.
Can I use the music in a Google Photos video for business?
No. Google’s help page says the music that accompanies a highlight video is for personal, non-commercial use only.
