Google Photos gives testers more agency with its slight ‘Ask Photos’ UI redesign

What you need to know

Google was spotted rolling out an update for its enrolled testers experimenting with “Ask Photos” in the Photos app.
The “Ask” tab introduced in the beta no longer drops users into Gemini, instead, it offers suggestions and other photo/video options with the AI.
Google started its test of Ask Photos in September and its waitlist is still open for those interested.

It seems Google is rolling out an update for its AI-powered feature in Photos that makes it a little easier to manage.

As spotted by 9to5Google, the app’s “Ask Photos” feature, which leverages Gemini, is picking up a slight UI rework for its testers. Update 7.14 is changing the newly introduced “Ask” tab at the bottom of the app. Tapping it displays a completely reconfigured page that offers more options rather than tossing you directly into a chat with Gemini. Now, users will see a slightly reduced search bar and an “Ask” button beside it.

Beneath this is a change — or, rather, a reversion — to what testers reportedly experienced at the beginning: a panel of suggestions. The latest experimental version adds a list of suggested actions users can ask the AI to perform. It seems that these suggestions are based on content within your collections and albums in the Photos app.

Gemini’s “Ask Photos” can dig into your screenshots or a specific timespan of photos you’ve taken. Additionally, the AI can go into your videos and favorites if you desire.

If users are interested in chatting with Gemini directly, tapping the button produces a slightly retuned chat. Users will now have a clean UI, minus their profile icon at the top right. Under the star, there are reportedly a few suggestions to help users get started. The “Try Asking” section gives users ideas about their photos and it also goes off on a tangent with “Write a funny poem about me.”

These changes are reportedly rolling out to all users enrolled in the “Ask Photos” test in Photos in the U.S.

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Google slightly reworked the — (Image credit: 9to5Google)

We’ve been expecting “Ask Photos” to drop ever since Google teased it during I/O 2024. Several months later, in September, the feature finally arrived experimentally, opening its waitlist for interested testers in the U.S. One of the headliners for this feature was Gemini’s ability to “understand the context” of your photo gallery. This means that the AI should be able to recognize the people you’re looking for, as well as food and other objects/items.

In the event that Gemini gets it wrong (which is possible), Google encourages users to add additional details to help it.

Aside from surfacing memories for you, Ask Photos can also create a collage of images for you from a recent trip or from whenever.

The waitlist for Ask Photos is still in testing, meaning its waitlist is still open and ready to enter your email address.

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