Google Photos could get smarter at helping media hoarders declutter

Before I began typing this article, I took a peek at my phone’s storage information, and I have a confession to make. I’m a certified media hoarder. As of right now, my phone’s gallery has over 25,000 items, and I’m sure they’re full of duplicates, downloaded memes, images and videos others have sent me over messaging apps, screenshots that I don’t have use for, and more.

Google Photos has an intuitive solution that media hoggers like me should utilize more often. The app’s Manage storage section lets users review and delete large photos and videos, blurry photos, screenshots, and even media from other apps that count towards storage.

Now, Google is reportedly working on making the feature even smarter, and it involves the app proactively suggesting action.

Spotted in code in the app’s latest version 7.35 build by the folks over at Android Authority, it looks like Google Photos could soon begin suggesting photos to delete, but only after you’ve already manually selected and deleted several photos yourself.

The feature is still in early development

“Delete suggestions appear whenever you select and delete [a specific number] or more photos,” reads a relevant code string, with subsequent prompts suggesting that the app “found” photos that you might want to delete.

Relevant strings also indicate that the potentially upcoming feature will give users the option to review each photo before confirming the deletion. Users will have the option to recover photos from their Trash folder if they delete a set of images by mistake. Google Photos will also offer a dedicated toggle for users to disable the feature.

Code strings do not suggest that the feature would extend to video. Additionally, while likely, it’s not explicitly clear whether Google intends to rely on AI/Gemini for the functionality.

The new functionality was only spotted in code, suggesting that it is in early development, and not ready for a public rollout just yet.