Google Photos might finally fix its most annoying search problem
Google Photos might finally fix its most annoying search problem
https://www.androidauthority.com/google-photos-ask-photos-search-toggle-apk-teardown-3636245/
Publish Date: 2026-01-29 03:54:00
Source Domain: www.androidauthority.com
Adamya Sharma / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is testing a new dedicated toggle to switch between the AI-powered “Ask Photos” and the classic search experience.
- This new toggle will improve discoverability compared to the current double-tap shortcut for switching between the two search experiences.
- If a classic search yields no results, Google Photos will automatically use “Ask Photos” to help find your media.
Google Photos is great at what it does…for the most part. A lot of Google’s changes to the app are well-intentioned, but sometimes, users prefer the older way of doing things. One such change is Ask Photos, an AI-powered search feature intended to help people find content with natural language queries. Most users prefer the classic search experience in Google Photos, but many don’t realize they can double-tap the “Ask” button to switch to it. Google could soon improve the situation by giving users one more toggle to switch between the two search experiences.
Within Google Photos 7.61.0.860908034, we spotted code that enables another option to toggle between the classic in-app search experience and the Ask Photos search experience. We managed to enable the toggle and other new UI bits to give you an early look.
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Right now, when users search for something using the “Ask Photos” feature, it shows a bottom sheet with text related to the search, as shown in the first screenshot below. In the future, Google Photos may not show the bottom sheet, showing the text at the top, along with the upvote and downvote buttons, as you can see in the second screenshot below. Only the search bar will remain at the bottom for follow-up questions.
Current UI
Upcoming UI
Eagle-eyed readers would have spotted the new “Ask Photos” toggle icon on the top left of the new UI. The toggle was turned on, and accordingly, Google Photos presented the Ask Photos experience when searching for media.
Current…
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