Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google has started rolling out a new update to its Photos app, which includes a new video player UI.
- Additionally, the company has changed up its setup UI for new Photos users.
- These updates are part of Google’s gradual rollout of its Material 3 Expressive redesign.
Google has started rolling out some of its visual changes to the Photos app, which include a new video player progress bar with larger controls. While we spotted a few of the upcoming changes in an APK teardown back in June, users can now get access to the new UI by updating their Google Photos app to the latest version.
The rollout was initially tipped by users in the Gapps Leaks Telegram group and we’ve since confirmed it by updating the app on our own devices. The video player now has a larger progress bar, along with a vertical indicator for easy navigation through the timeline. The volume button now sits above the progress bar. Rather than using the pause button in the center of the screen, there’s a new pause button above the progress bar.
But instead of holding down on the left or right side of the video to adjust video playback speed and fast forward and rewind, the updated player allows you to double tap on the left or right of the video to skip ahead or rewind by five seconds. With additional taps, you can skip ahead or rewind further, with five seconds added per tap.
While there’s something to be said for incremental changes, we’re hoping that Google will continue to make more substantive updates to the app. I personally find the ability to share Google Photos albums with a QR code quite nice.
Google is currently working on a bunch of redesigned elements for other apps which embrace the Material 3 Expressive design language. These include updates to Gmail, Phone, Meet, and plenty more.
