Google Photos has been integrated with Google+ until it becomes a full service. The decision made sense for the service: while Google's social network left life earlier this month, Photos is still alive and remains one of the company's most popular products on Android and iOS. However, your Google+ Cover Photos are stored in the sidebars of some apps, including Photos. This is changing as users report the disappearance of the colorful background of their profile images in the application.

Left: Before. Right: After.

Along with the removal of the cover photo, the application has also simplified the menu. Gone is the Now in the sharing tab option, because that was another way to access the Sharing button in the lower navigation bar (you can even see it as "-aring" in the bottom right of the screenshots above). Help and comments, previously two separate options, are now consolidated at one point. Other items are mixed a little, with Free up space and settings go up a little, further from our thumbs. The bottom of the sidebar is now linked to the privacy policy and the terms of use.

This change should not come as a surprise, as Google's latest material design guidelines discourage the use of cover photos in the sidebar. Many other applications in the company already have menus updated without them, and Google Photos is just following along, moving away from more and more of its legacy.

The new navigation drawer is becoming a server-side change. Thus, even if you use the latest version (4.13 on APK Mirror), you will have to be patient if you do not see it yet.

Google Photos
Google Photos
  • Thank you:
  • Gabriel Komarnicki