Google Photos is introducing a new design for the Collections tab on Android, giving users more control over their albums, folders, and photo categories. The update is all about customization, allowing users to pin collections they access often, hide sections they use rarely, and rearrange the layout to make their photo libraries easier to navigate.
According to a 9To5Google report, the change comes after Google rolled out the redesigned floating navigation bar on Android earlier this year. Rather than inventing a brand new way to store photos, Google is making it easier to get to the content people want, without having to scroll through sections they rarely open.
Google Photos adds pinned collections, flexible layouts
The redesign of the tab begins with a new Pinned section that shows selected shortcuts in a horizontal carousel. Favorites, Screenshots, and Trash are there by default, but you can change which collections are pinned or remove the section completely.
Below that, Google Photos has horizontal carousels for categories like On this device, Albums, People & pets, Wardrobe, Places, and Documents. Users can jump straight into the full collection with a “View all” option, with controls to hide or rearrange individual sections.
The page also has a grid of “Other Collections,” combining categories like Moments, Videos, Recently Added, Stickers, Creations, Archive, Locked, and Trash. There is also a Reorder button at the bottom to provide another way to organize the layout.
The new design gives users more flexibility than the previous design, which was based on a static group of large collection cards and a list of other folders. Instead of trying to fit into the order Google likes, users can prioritize the sections that matter most to them.
Google Photos 7.97 begins rollout
Google Photos version 7.97 on Android is rolling out widely with the customizable Collections redesign, according to 9to5Google. The publication says a simple restart of the device and reopening the app was sufficient to trigger the server-side update on its test devices, but availability may vary for users.
The changes could make day-to-day tasks less tedious for users with thousands of photos. Pin your frequently used folders to reduce the number of taps needed to find your screenshots, albums, or archived images. You can also hide the sections you don’t want to make the interface feel less cluttered. This is primarily a navigation update, not an update to photo storage or backup.
If you don’t see the new layout yet, make sure you have Google Photos updated to version 7.97, and relaunch the app. The redesign is being flipped server-side, so just updating to the latest version may not make it pop up right away. Google has not yet provided a separate release date for those users who have not received the update.
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