Good news if you’re using an Android smartphone from some of the most popular smartphone manufacturers on the market, since the pre-installed Gallery app can now access your photos stored in the Google cloud.
For years, Android users have had to juggle between their phone’s preinstalled gallery app and Google’s Photos app to fully manage their media libraries. This is now resolved, as owners of certain smartphone brands can now Seamlessly access their entire Google Photos backup directly in their device’s default gallery app.
According to a report from Android Police, OPPO, OnePlus, Realme and Xiaomi have all implemented a link between Google Photos and the gallery apps delivered to their latest smartphones. And for Xiaomi users, basic integration came even earlier, at the end of 2022.
Also read – Google Messages: sending a ton of images to your friends is going to get a lot easier
Google Photos is now accessible from your gallery
The feature not only allows you to securely back up photos and videos captured via your OEM’s gallery, but also selectively browse and upload content from your entire Google Photos library to the cloud, on-demand. No need to switch from one application to another to view everything. Xiaomi’s application goes even further by offering options for manually or automatically download content from Google Photos as you browse.
Unlike some attempts to integrate Google Photos into third-party apps, this latest OEM-approved implementation properly handles things like syncing changes. All changes made to the phone gallery are accurately reflected in your Google Photos library.
Of course, the big absentee at this stage is Samsung. As the world’s largest Android brand, the lack of Google Photos integration in the popular Samsung Gallery might just annoy many users. However, it is possible that this is a deliberate choice by the Korean manufacturer, to promote its own cloud offerings. While waiting to see whether or not Samsung will take the plunge, know that Google Photos recently benefited from another update which now allows it to analyze your activity to show you your most beautiful memories.