Google somewhat quietly announced a pretty big redesign for photo viewing in Google Photos yesterday. To start, these huge changes are coming to the Google Photos app on iOS, but Google has already committed to bringing it to Android “soon.”
Google Photos update and redesign: While Google has continued to adjust the way you navigate the Photos app in recent years, the photo viewing experience hasn’t seen much change in some time. Starting this week, you’ll start to see a lot of actions buried behind 3-dot menus, improved usability, auto light or dark mode matching, and more.
The first three items to cover are best described from Google themselves, as they are the general principles that come to this new viewing experience. Here’s what they said about this update:
- Brand-new light mode for your photos. We’ll automatically match your device’s light or dark mode preferences.
- Glanceable date, time, and location details right at the top of your photos, making it easier to pinpoint when and where a photo was captured.
- Streamlined actions menu for improved usability and navigation. You’ll notice many key actions have been consolidated into the three-dot menu.
As Google notes in its announcement post, all of the previous functionality is still there it just may have moved some. For example, the 3-dot menu in the top right corner now has the following actions within it:
- About
- Google Lens
- Create
- Cast
- Save as (for Live or Motion photos)
- Download or Delete from device
You may see a new 3-dot menu attached to photo stacks or bursts that give you controls over those items. For example you would be able to tap and say “Unstack” or just remove one photo from it. There’s a new “Add to” button in the bottom bar that’ll also let you take more actions on photos. Again, everything is still here, you’ll just need to hunt for it if you aren’t seeing it once updated.
Finally, new badges can show up near a photo for things like the play/pause button on a Motion photo, to change categories, backup, etc:
- Change the photo’s category
- Play or pause a Live or Motion photo
- Save a shared photo to your library
- Back up a photo or manage your storage
We’ll let you know once this update arrives on Android. For now, enjoy, iOS users!
Google Play Link: Google Photos
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