The Google Photos app on Android has been updated with tools to organize the default view more effectively. Google has added fresh options in the app to hide any automatically saved media, such as screenshots or imaged and videos shared through messaging apps such as WhatsApp, bringing about a meaningful change for those who use Google Photos as the primary app to view and sort images and videos on their Android devices. This addition could be a part of the larger redesign that Google Photos may be getting soon.
With this update, Google has expanded sorting features and clubbed them under “Photos view,” which replaces the earlier option to “personalize your grid.” Android Authority first spotted these new settings, which bring options to “show content from other apps.”
The feature helps you focus on essential media, such as that from the phone’s camera, without requiring extra steps involved in navigating to separate albums that appear on the app’s Collections tab.
Another new option lets you “hide clutter from other apps,” which essentially curbs media such as screenshots, GIFs, or attachments from apps — for instance, daily greetings received in your family WhatsApp group — from showing up on the main timeline. As an extension to this option, you will also be able to whitelist apps, and media from these will appear amidst pictures from your cameras.
You may either choose to hide the “clutter” from third-party apps once they have been backed up to your Google Drive or hide it entirely. We aren’t quite sure if the feature uses any rules to exclude photos of people or pets shared using third-party apps, though it isn’t immediately apparent. That means you may have to add them to your library or back them up to the cloud if you wish for photos received from other people to show up on your timeline.
The update is reportedly rolling out with version 7.14.0.720276279 of Google Photos on Android. We have yet to receive the latest update, but expect to get it in a few days as part of a gradual rollout. Meanwhile, a similar feature for iOS has yet to be reported but may be on its way.
