Google Photos is bringing ‘Ask Photos’ directly to your image viewer

Google’s conversational photo editing tool, Ask Photos, rolled out to all US-based Pixel users back in September. Barring users in Texas and Illinois, most have been able to make edits using natural prompts like “add a sunset filter to this image,” or “remove that photobomber from the background.”

To access the feature, users need to manually navigate to the app’s ‘Ask’ tab and input relevant prompts. This isn’t a huge speedbump, but there could be better ways to ‘Ask Photos.’ Google realizes that, and it is reportedly working on a new shortcut that could let you access the feature from a much more intuitive screen.

First highlighted by the folks over at Android Authority after digging into Google Photos’ v7.52.0 build, users might soon be able to access ‘Ask Photos’ directly from within the image viewer. This is a much more intuitive way of accessing the feature, essentially allowing you to edit or ask questions without leaving that individual image’s view.

The new UI was manually enabled — installing the v7.52.0 build will not surface it for you. However, the screenshots above give a pretty good idea of what the new shortcut will look like within the image viewer.

The shortcut will appear as a Gemini icon in the center of the bottom-aligned toolbar, and tapping it will open a prompt box where you can type or speak (after tapping the mic icon) your request.

Elsewhere, the new shortcut isn’t the only feature the tech giant was spotted working on. The app is also expected to soon roll out a new “Outfits collection” feature.

“Sort photos based on my outfit”

Code strings found within the build hint at the ‘Outfits collection’ working in conjunction with Ask Photos. Although not entirely evident, it looks like the feature might allow users to create and organize a digital collection of their outfits right within Google Photos.

This could allow for prompts like “show me all the photos in which I’m wearing this jacket,” or potentially even “show me other pictures where I’m wearing the same shoes.”

Like all early spottings, it isn’t entirely clear if and when the potentially upcoming features might roll out.