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Android 13 DP1: New system-wide photo picker streamlines sharing

The first preview of Android 13 has arrived, and with it some new tweaks to how the OS we’ve come to know and love. Included in the first developer preview of Android 13 is Google’s new system-wide photo picker, which is meant to streamline the experience.

Android has always had a system-wide interface for picking out pictures, videos, and other files when apps need access to more than just the camera roll. In Android 13, that feature is being split to offer a dedicated photo and video picker experience that integrates both local and cloud-stored photos without apps needing additional permissions for media access on your device.

Google explains:

To help protect photo and video privacy of users, Android 13 adds a system photo picker — a standard and optimized way for users to share both local and cloud-based photos securely. The photo picker extends this capability with a dedicated experience for picking photos and videos. Apps can use the photo picker APIs to access the shared photos and videos without needing permission to view all media files on the device.

However, in our limited testing, the feature is not yet live in apps on Android 13. The photo picker itself is surely in this developer preview, but no currently-available apps can use it.

Google did provide a sample of the functionality, though.

We’re still digging into Android 13’s first developer preview, so stay tuned for more in the next few hours and let us know if you spot something we haven’t!

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Avatar for Ben Schoon Ben Schoon

Ben is a Senior Editor for 9to5Google.

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