Google redesigns Photos app: 3-tab structure will help users relive memories

Google has redesigned the popular Google Photos app with an aim to help a user relive life's memories. In the new design, photos and videos will have more prominence. There will be a new three-tab structure comprising photos, search and library. It will be rolled out over the coming week for iOS and Android devices.

Photos

Even as Photos will continue to be the main tab containing all photos and videos, it will have larger thumbnails and auto-playing videos. There will be less white space between the photos.

Search

As photo libraries get bigger, searching for particular images becomes more difficult. With this redesign, Google understands the importance of search and has made it easy for users to quickly look for people, places and things. There will be a new interactive map view as well. This is said to be one of the most requested features since Google Photos' launch. Users can pinch and zoom around the globe to explore photos of their travels. They can see where most of their photos have been clicked.

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If the user has enabled the location via device camera, location history or manually, those photos have always been organised and searchable by place in Google Photos. They will also show up on the map view. However, if the user wants to make changes, it can be done by making edits or turning off location history and camera location permission.

Library

The library tab will contain the most important destinations in the photo library, like albums, favorites, trash, archive and more. The users will be able to access shared content by tapping on the "Conversation" button in the upper left corner.

Last year, Google introduced "Memories" to help revisit the most important memories from the past years. Now, Google has added more types, like the best pics and trips, and even the highlights from last week. Google also moved automatic creations - like movies, collages, animations, stylised photos and more - from the "For you" tab into Memories. The users will also have the option to control what type of memories they wish to revisit by hiding specific people and time period. Introduced five years ago, it was based on how people struggle to manage their photos and videos which are scattered across devices and with many not even backed on the personal computers (PCs). It solved these problems.

Since then, more than one billion people are using the app each month. Google Photos helped users store and organise everything in one place. Google Photos is by default installed on Android phones and can be downloaded for iOS from the App Store. Google has also redesigned the icon after a pinwheel as a nod to childhood and nostalgia.

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