The rumoured split of Google’s photo backup service from the social networking aspect of Google+ has been discussed by Sundar Pichai, Senior VP at Google, since March of this year. We reported last week that the standalone service and associated app was ready for launch at this week’s Google I/O conference, but hadn’t seen or heard any details about what the service would look like.
However, as is common these days, this kind of information is hard to keep secret in the days leading up to a big announcement.
Android Police has gotten an exclusive look at the new app’s functionality and design, and it looks like a huge upgrade. From automatically tagging and indexing people and objects in photos, to powerful search functionality, this new app appears to be a considerable update from its predecessor.
Another big update to the service is a feature called “Assistant” that will give you more control over albums, and functions like Auto Awesome collages and animation.
The editing suite has also been redesigned to make theming your photos and common adjustments simpler. Basically every aspect of the app has been cleaned up and reconsidered for the modern smartphone user, and looks to be equally interesting to Google+ users and those who prefer other photo sharing services.
In addition to all the new features, the app also leans heavily on Google’s Material Design, and fits well with Google’s other built-in apps on Android. Though these screenshots appear very convincing, Android Police is careful to say that final designs for the app may be slightly different than they appear, but given that Google I/O starts on May 28, it’s likely that this is what we should expect to see at the keynote.
[source]Android Police[/source]
