Google Photos is testing a carousel redesign for the “Shortcuts” that appear at the top of the Collections tab on Android.
At the moment, the top of the Collections tab is a 2×2 grid. The first two-pill shaped buttons are always for Favorites and Trash, but the bottom two items rotate and show commonly used albums or folders.
Google Photos is now testing a carousel redesign that makes use of a portrait preview except for Archive and Trash (which makes sense). This rounded card is overlaid with a circular icon and album/folder name, while the section is now explicitly named.
They refresh and rearrange immediately once a new image has been added to an album. This lack of persistent access to Favorites (and/or Trash) might get annoying over time. This design does not allow for muscle memory.
In terms of density, you see three full cards and enough of the fourth that you can tap it, so it’s not a downgrade from the previous design. One upside is how the touch targets are much larger than before, and that the preview image is actually usable compared to the previous circular cutout.
The tabs for Photos and Collections both starting with a carousel might be a bit much, but it’s a familiar enough concept for users.
As of today, we’re only seeing this Shortcuts redesign on one Google Account/device.
More on Google Photos:
- Google Photos 7.55 rolling out gradient icon redesign
- Google Photos ‘Help me edit’ coming to iOS with Nano Banana, ‘Ask Photos’ search goes global
- Google Photos brings 3D photo ‘experiences’ to Samsung’s Android XR headset
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