Here’s how Google Photo’s new Tinder-like swiping feature works (APK teardown)

While the Tinder-style clean-up functionality in Google Photos is still under development, we were able to toggle it with under-the-hood tweaks in version 7.42.0.797402755 of the Android app. As you can see in the demo below, the feature can be toggled by tapping the brush icon on a cluster of images, which are usually grouped by day or month. Tapping the button opens up an interface with stacked cards, where you can swipe left to delete a particular photo or swipe right to save it.

The card UI also shows the number of photos being reviewed at that moment. This is indicated by a number above the card stack, such as (1/18) in the images above.

If you find the swiping superfluous, you will also be able to tap buttons marked as “Delete” and “Keep.” It is possible that Google is simply testing both ways to save or delete photos and might remove these buttons when the feature is closer to launch.

When you’re done swiping the cards, Google Photos will present you with an additional screen to finally review the images you want to delete. The ones you swiped left are automatically selected from the grid.

Once you’re done reviewing the images, you will be able to tap Delete to remove these images. Hopefully, they will still remain in the recycle bin, so you can extract them if they’re deleted by mistake.

As someone who keeps automatic backup disabled and spends hours manually reviewing photos and only backing up the important ones, I find this to be a welcome addition that will finally help me avoid the labor. However, that depends on when this feature is available widely, since there is no clear indication from Google about its release.