Google Photos could finally make it way easier to share an image

As great as Google Photos is, there are still a few rough edges. While the app is great for backing up your photos, it’s not very good at sharing a single image from your library with another app. Users can either download an image they want to share or share it with other apps via the share sheet.

The share sheet approach is flawed because it presents the image as a new message in chat apps, so you can’t use it as a reply to an existing message, leaving most people with no choice but to download the image and then attach it as a reply. This method is slow, inconvenient, and leaves behind a copy of the image in your downloads.

Google seems to have finally heard enough complaints about this limitation, as Google Photos will soon let you copy an image directly to your clipboard. We’ve also spotted other UI changes within Google Photos.

Google Photos’ new Copy button

Google Photos v7.63.0.867680147 includes code that allows users to copy images in order to paste them into other apps. We managed to activate a “Copy” button in Google Photos’ share sheet to give you an early look:

While users still have to open the share sheet, the Copy button will allow them to copy the image and paste it into other apps via the universal system Paste option.

When an image is copied and pasted, it is shared at full resolution but slightly compressed to save storage space.

The primary limitation of this Copy-Paste approach is that you can copy only one image at a time, which is standard copy-paste behavior in most Android apps.

Here’s a demo video showing Google Photos’ new Copy button in action:

More parts of the Backup settings are getting a Material 3 Expressive makeover

Last week, we reported on Google’s progress on adding Material 3 Expressive to more parts of Google Photos’ Backup settings. Two more sub-menus are in line to receive this UI refresh, as spotted within this version:

Eagle-eyed readers would spot the new “Back up photos over data” button in the second screenshot.

Album and Updates screen also get some UI changes

The Album screen in Google Photos will soon feature connected button groups at the top.

Connected Button Groups are a layout pattern that emphasizes continuity. Instead of each button having its own fully rounded or “pill” shape, the group acts as a single shape. The outer corners of the group (the far left and far right) retain the standard Material 3 rounding, while the internal corners where (unselected) buttons touch are squared off.

In the Updates section, accessible by pressing the bell icon on the Photos home screen, a new row at the top will soon show a horizontal list of recently updated albums.

None of these changes are currently live within Google Photos. We’ll keep you updated when we learn more.