Google is making a significant change in the “Memories” tab that has been used for a long time in the Photos application. The Memories tab, which is an artificial intelligence-powered feature that automatically organizes users’ past photos and videos into a digital album, will be removed from the app’s submenu. Instead, this functionality is being moved to a new “Moments” section in the Collections tab of the app. This move by Google aims to make the interface of the application simpler and more user-friendly.
With this change, the number of tabs in the bottom bar of the Google Photos application decreases to three. Users will now encounter “Photos,” “Collections,” and “Search” (or “Ask” if using Google Gemini integration) tabs in the app. This simplification aims to enable users to navigate within the application more quickly and easily.
A similar arrangement was made in the Google Maps application earlier this year, and the number of tabs in the bottom bar was reduced to three. Thanks to this approach, Google aims to provide a more consistent experience in its applications. However, it will become clear over time what impact this design change will have on users’ habits.
From Memories to Moments: Functionality same, location different
The Memories tab in Google Photos stood out as an artificial intelligence feature that highlighted users’ important memories from the past. In the new edit, this functionality is not completely removed, it is just moved to the Moments section under the Collections tab. In this section, users will be able to access categories such as “People and Pets,” “Albums,” “Documents” and “Places.”
Regardless of the name Memories or Moments, this feature brings together past events, holidays or special days, allowing users to easily access nostalgic memories. In addition, by editing these albums, users can add new photos to the content, remove unnecessary ones, or change album titles and cover images. This feature, which also has a wide range of sharing options, allows users to easily show their memories to their family and friends.
The Memories function is also supported by extra creative content such as automatically generated collages, animations or stylized photos. These features transform the digital album experience from just an editing tool to an enjoyable archive creation process.
Google’s new regulation has already started to be available for iOS users. Android users will be able to get the update via Google Play in the coming days. In the latest version of Google Photos, the Memories branding will only appear as a carousel at the top of the photo grid on the app’s home screen. Apart from this, there will not be any Memories tab in the submenu.
This simplification step by Google aims to both improve the user experience and ensure consistency in the overall design of the application. However, it will become clear in the coming period to what extent this change will be adopted by users and what impact it will have, especially among those who have been actively using the Memories tab for a long time.