Google Photos adds a timeline of Stories, plus more options for sharing and printing – TechCrunch



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Google Photos receives its own version of Stories. But instead of focusing on what you do now, like Stories On other platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat's offer, Google Photos adopts the format that will help you to travel in the past. This feature is one of many updates to the photo sharing service that helps you reconnect with your old, often forgotten photos after downloading.

Its unique version of Stories is perhaps the most interesting update, as it is the first time we see the format used to go back.

In Google Photos, this feature is called "Memories." as is designed to help users relive their lives in a more meaningful way.

 Memories

The company said it had this idea by observing user behavior on its application.

"We see users browsing their photos and scrolling through the screen to look at photos from five years ago," said Shimrit Ben-Yair, head of Google Photos. "We see them looking for moments and having a good experience with that. But we thought: how can we make this even easier?

The Memory feature, she continues, aims to help users "improve their digital memories."

Most users already know how to use Google Photos Memories, given the widespread adoption of Stories on various platforms, including Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Messenger, YouTube and even surprising places such as Netflix. As with other apps, the feature places small, rounded icons at the top of the Google Photos Gallery, which you can use to launch and advance.

Except that, in this case, each circle of history takes you back in time – for example, a year ago, two years ago, three years, and so on.

 memoirs

However, this feature is not just a variation of "Rediscover this day" because it is not so closely related to a given date. It's more a showcase of what you were doing at about the same time as in previous years – like about the same week. It allows you to look back without having to go through the wrong photos and duplicates.

To help users relive more sensitive memories, such as deaths that they still live or separations that they prefer to forget, for example, you will also be able to prevent certain people or certain places from happening again. display in the Memory function, to better customize your real life.

Another key difference is that Google Photos memories are not displayed in public.

"EAlthough this is the Stories format – in which we rely because we think it creates a more immersive experience to revive your life – it is only about your library. It's your private content, "said James Gallagher, Technical Manager at Google Photos, during the pre-launch feature demonstration at TechCrunch.

However, in a few months, Google Photos plans to let you share these old photos – or those you encounter in your library – in a more direct and personal way. By improving the sharing feature, you can send a photo directly to your friends or family, and add one to an ongoing and private conversation that will eventually become a stream of all your discussions and sharing.

Photo prints

And Google Photos expands its options to transfer photos from your phone to the real world.

It's a partnership with Walmart and CVS to get 4 × 6 photo prints that can be taken in about an hour in more than 11,000 locations in the United States. These prints will cost the same as if you ordered directly from retailers for $ 0.25 at Walmart and $ 0.33 at CVS. You can also transform photos into wall art of different sizes in the United States. This follows Flickr's recent expansion into the field of prints and wall art, which was launched last month.

Photo prints

In the case of Google Photos, you will be able to select canvas prints in three different sizes: 8 × 8 ($ 19.99), 11 × 14 ($ 29.99) and 16 × 20 ($ 44.99), which can be customized to black, white, or photo borders. The canvases also come with a hanger at the back for easy mounting.

This feature will generate revenue, although Google outsources real work to a network of print partners in the United States. It joins an existing feature that allows users to turn photos into photo books in just a few steps.

Canvas Prints

One last feature, though not necessarily related to memories, is an improved search that will now help you find pictures or screenshots with text – like a recipe.

This feature, impressions, and the Memory feature are being deployed. Direct sharing happens in a few months.

These additions are part of many improvements to Google Photos since its release from Google+ a little over four years ago. The company has rapidly improved its photo hosting and sharing service with A.I. feature to clean up users' extensive photo libraries and automatically create photo retouching and mini-movies, among others. And it continues to improve with features such as support for Lens's visual search and a wider range of photo fixes optimized by A.I., for example.

Thanks to these features and its integration with the Android operating system, Google Photos now has more than a billion monthly users.

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