As previous rumors implied, the new photos app makes a clean break. It will be the new default photo gallery backup solution for Android devices.
The story behind the story: Android Police have a pretty good track record with such leaks and teardowns, so we’re pretty confident this is the real thing. From the looks of all the leaked images, there could be lots to like about this new app. If all goes well, we should try it ourselves if unveiled at the 2015 I/O developer conference.
A New Assistant with Better Privacy Controls
Other screenshots reveal that Google’s Auto-awesome feature is morphing into the Assistant.
On areas, Auto-awesome would automatically pull several images together for a motion effect. The Assistant gives you more control. You can create a movie, album, story, or collage with a group of images. Photos will sort pictures for you, recognizing objects and grouping them together.
Another significant new feature is in how the app recognizes photos. You can search for a city, type of animal, or even a person. And use its image-recognition capabilities to find the right image. Android Police found it somewhat effective, making it significantly easier to look for specific pictures without digging through different albums.
Choosing one or multiple images for sharing also gets a makeover. Using a Lollipop-style menu for sharing photos, videos, or links. Photos also allow you to strip out any location metadata if you’d instead not share that.