Google Photos tests prominent row of Favorites and other shortcuts

Abner Li | Dec 21 2024 - 2:57 pm PT

Google Photos is simplifying the bottom bar to three tabs, and another big design change tests a very prominent row of shortcuts.

On iOS, we’re seeing a row of shortcuts beneath the top bar. There are four buttons for Favorites, Recently Added, and Trash, as well as a shortcut for your last viewed album.

Appearing above the Memories carousel, this makes for a very interesting look since that has historically been the first thing on the page. It pushes down the grid of photos, but you do still see recent images.

The four circular shortcuts are pretty useful, with quick access to Favorites being very convenient to me. Recently Added has a nice magnifying glass icon combined with a rewind symbol, since this view basically performs a search. Having a recent album is fine, while Trash feels a bit prominent.

Meanwhile, this is basically the 2×2 grid at the top of the Collections tab. Personally, I primarily use that view to get to Favorites.

We’re seeing this shortcuts row with version 7.11 of Google Photos for iOS. It’s not yet appearing on Android, which doesn’t have the new bottom bar yet.