Google Photos Redesign: New View & ‘Add to’ Feature

In addition to the upcoming editor redesignGoogle Photos is revamping the app’s photo view.

Google says the new photo view offers a “simpler, more modern, and more intuitive UI.”  The background is now available in light (instead of just dark) mode to automatically match your device’s system theme.

At the top of each image, you’ll get “glanceable date, time, and location details” that are pretty convenient.  Below that, you might have pill-shaped “badges” to:

• 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

Photo stacks and bursts appear near the bottom with a “new three-dot icon attached to the selected thumbnail” to:

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• Change the top pick
• Keep this, delete rest
• Remove from stack
• Unstack
• Multi-select “to take bulk actions on the photos in the stack”

The other big aspect is a “streamlined actions menu for improved usability and navigation.” At the very bottom, Share, Edit (new icon), and Trash are unchanged. Google Lens in the row has been replaced by an “Add to“ menu to “organize your photos into albums, move them to Archive, or secure them in your Locked Folder.” The availability of Circle to Search on Android dampens the impact.

Everything else — save for “Favorites” — is found in the three-dot overflow menu. This includes:

• About
• Google Lens
• Create
• Cast
• Save as (for Live or Motion photos)
• Download or Delete from device

This photo view redesign is widely rolled out on iOS, and is “coming soon” to Google Photos for Android.

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