Google Photos has started rolling out its new Collections tab

Summary

• Google Photos is changing its design with a new “Collections” view to make finding content easier.
• The redesign includes quick access pills for Favorites, Trash, Screenshots, Archive, and more.
• The update also relocates tools like Locked Folder and Import Photos for a streamlined experience.

Google Photos attempted a Library tab redesign back in 2022, but the UI change was ultimately never rolled out following widespread backlash.

We saw hints a few months ago that indicated that Google might again be attempting to roll out a UI change for Library, with the change rolling out to a few who appeared to be unhappy about the UI change. Now, it appears that the update is actually materializing and rolling out more widely.

Google’s isn’t taking the same approach that it did with its 2022 redesign. “We’ve heard you loud and clear that with the previous experience, finding shared albums was difficult,” wrote Google in a new support post, via 9to5Google.

To change things up, Library, which is third in the bottom panel, will soon be renamed Collections, albeit with the same bookshelf icon. Tapping it would reveal quick access pills for Favorites, Trash, Screenshots, Archive, and more, with the latter two on a rotation basis depending on items you navigate to the most.

The tech giant has also decided to omit the Locked Folder from the pills, and the pills themselves appear to be transparent, compared to the Material You coloring seen on the pills in Google Photos currently. According to Google, Collections will make “finding content easier than ever,” with access to your own albums, images and albums shared with you, ‘People, documents, and more all available under one roof.

Find all your albums in one place

Elsewhere, another significant change that users would quickly spot is the replacement of the Photos on device carousel with an On this device folder. On the other hand, navigating to Collections → Albums should give you a view that lets you switch between “All,” “Shared with me,” and “My albums,” to make it easier to find the exact album you’re looking for.

To streamline the overall experience, Google has also decided to remove the Utilities pill, and all related tools have been relocated to different sections of the app. Here’s where you can find them after the update:

• Locked Folder: Tap Collections. At the bottom, tap Locked.
• Import photos: At the top, tap Create +. Under “Get photos,” tap Import from other places.
• Make a new creation: At the top, tap Create + and then the type of creation you want to make, such as a new album, collage, highlight video, cinematic photo, or animation.
• Free up space: At the top, tap your Account profile photo or Initial and then Free up space on this device.
• Move photos to archive: Select a photo. Tap More and then Move to archive.
• Manage photo frames: At the top, tap your Account profile photo or Initial. Tap Photos settings and then Apps & devices. Tap Photo frames.

According to Google, the Collections view is starting to roll out now to all Google Photos users on Android and iOS. We’ve tried running the latest version of the app but we still don’t have access to it. “If you can’t find the Collections view yet, check back over the coming weeks,” suggests the tech giant.