Google Photos is one of those apps that I recommend all the time. It works perfectly on any device and is simply the best way to store and share photos. The crew here at Chrome Unboxed all use it to quickly share work photos, but I also now have my whole family on board. I love getting a notification that I have shared photos from a birthday party or holiday get-together waiting for me in the app. A refresh coming soon to the app aims to make all this easier and even order same-day prints of those special moments.
First up, Google has introduced a new feature called Memories, which uses machine learning to curate photos and videos from years past at the top of your gallery in a familiar ‘stories’ format. I will often take multiple pictures of the same scene and sometimes forget to filter out the duplicates – Google says Memories will keep you from scrolling through the all the duplicate photos and will only feature the photos with the best quality or photo where everyone is smiling. You will be able to hide certain people or time periods if you don’t want to revisit some memories.
Google also wants to make it easier to search for all your photos. The search feature in Google Photos is already really good but you can now search the text that is in your photos or screenshots. I really hope this works with written text eventually, since I often take photos of my handwritten notes to later add into Google Keep. This feature could make finding specific notes much easier for me and other users who do the same.
One of my favorite parts of the Google Photos app is the ability to quickly share photos with family and friends. The user experience has long needed an update, though. If you share photos often, the sharing tab of the app is a total mess with each shared photo(s) separated out by date. Now any photos you want to share will be added to an ongoing, private conversation thread. Google says this streamlined sharing will be available in the coming months.
Last but certainly not least, you can now order 4×6″ photo prints directly from Google Photos and pick them up same-day at CVS or Walmart. In my testing, it appears prints will cost you $0.25 at Walmart and $0.33 at CVS. If you want something larger to hang on the wall, you can now also order canvas prints from Google Photos in the U.S. and they’ll be delivered to your house. Canvas prints will cost you $19.99 for 8×8″, $29.99 for 11×14″, and $44.99 for 16×20″.
All printing features are available online at https://photos.google.com/printstore. Ordering in the Google Photos app and all other features mentioned are currently rolling out to users in the U.S. only.
Source: The Keyword
