Before this update, Google Photos had a Sharing page that you could access from a ‘people’ icon. The icon was in between the ‘plus’ menu and your profile picture. When you opened it, you had shortcuts for “Create shared album” and “Share with partner”. After those, you have an “Albums and Memories’ carousel. At the end, you have a list of conversations.
Right now, after this update, you will get a notification to “See recent sharing updates, including conversations and shared links” and you tap on it, a new “Updates” feed will open. You also have an overflow menu with “Sharing activity” and “Conversations”.
In the “Sharing activity” section, you’ll have all the shared links and shared memories.
Right now, this new feed is rolling out to Google Photos for Android but has not been spotted on iOS so far.
Google has been working on enriching Google Photos and making it more seamless recently. We’ve heard about different features in the works for the service, including an update to the UI making it easier to use Magic Editor, which is powered by Google’s generative AI.
Earlier, Google was also discovered to be working on replacing the “Memories” tab with a “Timeline” tab, which will organize your photos in a timeline-like manner for you to find them easier.
I like most of the changes coming to Google Photos, even if some of them are just design tweaks. Refining things is always a good idea, and I like the fact that Google Photos is getting some more meaningful tabs and sections.
I think calling the feed “Updates” is way more simple to understand, clear, and more straightforward than calling it “Sharing”, which could technically mean a lot of things and isn’t as clear.