Latest Google Photos update hints at album collaboration, people labeling, Chromecast support, more

Google released version 1.5 of Google Photos for Android last week, and there weren’t any notable user-facing features. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any additions at all in the new app — these updates very often lay the groundwork for features set to launch in the near future. Cody Toombs pulled this update apart himself, revealing that Photos is preparing for quite a few new additions including album collaboration, people labeling, Chromecast support, and more…

First up is evidence for something referred to as Album Collaboration. Just like you can today, users will be able to create an album from the photos in their library and share it with others. But with Album Collaboration, those you decide to send the album to will be able to modify its contents. As evidenced by the strings in the app, you’ll be able to turn on notifications for any time someone adds photos or videos to an album that you’re editing.

The update also seems to hint at something called “people_labeling”. While Google Photos is astoundingly good at recognizing faces and categorizing them correctly, the algorithm that Google uses can’t be perfect. And as it stands, there’s no way to manually label people. Assumably, that’s what this feature is for, and if these strings are to be believed, the feature will probably at some point be making its way to all the platforms that Photos is available on.

Chromecast icons

Finally, it looks like Google is finally getting ready to add native Chromecast support to the Photos app. Of course you could always just mirror your Android phone’s screen, but actual Chromecast support is one feature that was part of the Google+ app before Photos got separated. It’s a pretty standard feature, and considering the fact that Google is planning to introduce new Chromecast hardware at its event later this month, it seems like a natural addition to make.

You can grab Google Photos 1.5 on the Play Store, and we’ll be sure to let you know as soon as these features are made public in a future version.