Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
TL;DR
- More strings of code related to “My Week” were found in the Google Photos app.
- The new strings confirm that the feature is invite-only.
- Invites will be able to see your weekly submissions, as well as photos from past weeks.
Back in January, we discovered strings of code in the Google Photos app that suggested a “My Week” feature would be coming. We have now uncovered even more information about the incoming feature.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
While combing through version 6.86 of the Google Photos app, we stumbled upon more references to My Week. The additional strings provide further clarification about the feature.
Code
<string name="photos_album_titlecard_facepile_tallac_invite_only_subtitle">Invite your closest people to follow along and start their own</string>
<string name="photos_memories_myweek_entry_create_title">Introducing My Week</string>
<string name="photos_album_titlecard_facepile_tallac_invite_only_title">My Week is an invite only feature</string>
<string name="photos_memories_myweek_entry_title">Add to your week</string>
<string name="photos_memories_tallac_create_description">A weekly photo journal for you and a few special people you choose</string>
<string name="photos_memories_tallac_create_header_alt">A photo journal to collect your favorite moments</string>
<string name="photos_memories_tallac_create_invite_description">They will see your weekly memory directly in the Photos tab. They can also see photos from past weeks in the album.</string>
<string name="photos_memories_tallac_create_pick_photos_description">Choose the shots that bring your last couple weeks to life or just make you smile</string>
<string name="photos_memories_tallac_create_pick_photos_hint">Pick photos from your last couple weeks</string>
<string name="photos_memories_tallac_create_description_alt">Share it with a few special people so they can stay in the loop</string>
<string name="photos_memories_tallac_create_header">Forget about followers. Share what feels good.</string>
<string name="photos_memories_tallac_create_pick_photos_header">Get started by picking photos</string>
In our teardown from earlier in the year, we believed that the feature could be invite-only. These strings seem to confirm our suspicions. It also seems to emphasize the idea of sharing your photos with a small set of friends and family.
Additionally, it looks like users will be able to share images that were taken in the last few weeks. Invitees will be able to see your weekly picks from the Photos tab, as well as see submissions from previous weeks in the album.
The string that includes text that says “forget about followers” indicates what Google likely wants to achieve with this feature. It seems like Google is angling this as a way to share moments with close friends and family that might not be good for social media for whatever reason. Maybe it’s too personal, or maybe it would be uninteresting to your social media network but very interesting to your close friends. Either way, My Week is Google presenting users the option of keeping things off social media and staying more private.
It’s unknown when Google plans to release My Week out into the wild. But it’s clear that the company is still working on it.