Google is making significant changes to Google Photos
Google is making significant changes to Google Photos that will replace the familiar Library with a new “Collections” menu when accessing the service via your browser. The change follows similar updates Google recently introduced to its corresponding mobile apps.
A few other tools have also moved around in the Google Photos side panel, but don’t panic; all the functions are still there, just in different locations. If you’re familiar with using Google Photos on your mobile device, you should have no trouble adapting to the new browser interface as the changes align with the latest versions of Google’s Android and iOS apps.
Here’s what’s new or removed:
The Google Photos browser interface is changing from the old version (left) to the new (right)
Google Photos Changes: Explore function removed
First, the Explore function, with its confusing magnifying glass icon (it’s not a search function!), has been removed. Now, “People and pets,” “Places” and “Documents” can be found in their own sections of the main Google Photos menu rather than having to click Explore first to reveal them.
Google Photos Changes: New Updates section — goodbye Sharing
Google has now added an Updates section to the side menu. This mirrors the function available via the mobile apps, which serves as a place for notifications of recent activity such as comments and likes on your pictures, people joining your albums or sharing their albums with you. On your mobile device, these updates can be accessed by tapping the alarm bell icon near the top-right of the screen, which will show a red dot when new updates arrive.
The new Updates section replaces the former Sharing menu option, which provided a similar function but with much less information and is no longer required. You can now see sharing activity from within the Updates section.
The Google Photos “Updates” menu option now gives access to sharing activity and conversations
Google Photos Changes: Library replaced with Collections
The Library section has now been renamed to “Collections” and still contains many of the same subsections, including Favorites, Albums, Documents, Archive and your Locked Folder. The Collections section also adds People & Pets and Places (previously found under Explore), Videos (to quickly see only video content) and one of my personal favorites, “Recently added,” which shows you photos and videos in the order they were uploaded regardless of when you took them.
Before this update, you had to access the search menu and manually type “Recently Added” to access this function.
No one likes change for the sake of it, but these recent updates make it easier to access commonly used functions while bringing the Google Photos Web interface much closer to that of the mobile apps.
The update is rolling out now on an account-by-account basis. I have the new interface on one of my accounts but not the other, so if you’re wondering why your Google Photos page looks different to someone else’s, this is why.
If you don’t already have the new interface, you can expect it to update automatically soon.
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