Google has added a powerful new integration feature to Google Photos, but only for select smartphones … [+]
Google is introducing a powerful new way to access and share Google Photos content, but iPhone users and most major Android brands will miss it.
As detailed in a recent Google Photos support document, Google has started rolling out a new feature called “default gallery access”. This feature gives select smartphones two-way access to Google Photos libraries directly from their default gallery apps.
Unfortunately, the feature is currently only available on OnePlus, Oppo, Realme and Xiaomi devices, leaving iPhone and Samsung Galaxy users out of the picture for now.
With default gallery access enabled, users get convenient access to their Google Photos libraries without having to switch to the Google Photos app. This means they can view, download, edit, and share content stored in Google Photos without leaving the system-provided gallery app—although Google Photos needs to be installed for the feature to work. This can be especially useful when the default gallery app offers features that Google Photos doesn’t support.
Users can now enable two-way sync between Google Photos and their smartphone’s default settings … [+]
How does it work
Enabling default gallery access on the Xiaomi 14 smartphone, for example, causes the gallery app to start syncing images with Google Photos in the background. For larger photo libraries, this process may take some time, but you can continue to use the gallery while the process takes place.
Enabling backup to Google Photos starts the sync process.
Once connected, all photos and videos stored in Google Photos can now be edited directly in the gallery app without first switching to the Google Photos app to download them. Selecting album view in the gallery app reveals separate albums for favorites, videos, screenshots, and pictures taken locally with the device’s camera.
Unfortunately, the Gallery app will not display existing albums created in the Google Photos library. Everything that is not in one of the categories above is simply grouped into an album called “All Photos”.
After upgrading the Mi Gallery app, Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra can choose Microsoft … [+]
Testing the default gallery access on an older Mi 11 Ultra smartphone revealed a slightly different setup process. The user is given the option to switch backup providers as desired between Microsoft OneDrive and Google Photos. Google says the default gallery access will work on devices running at least Android 11.
Important warnings
Aside from the lack of support for the Google Photos album, the default gallery approach suffers from several other significant shortcomings.
One major caveat is that your device must remain configured to back up your photos to Google Photos for Google Photos sync to work. If your Google Account doesn’t have enough storage space, you might want to keep access to your library without automatically filling it with new photos. Unfortunately, turning off Google Photos backup will completely disable default gallery access and disconnect all synced images.
While this might prove frustrating for some users, it makes sense from the point of view of ensuring that all your local edits are reflected in your Google Photos library.
In addition, there are cases where the synchronization process is not completely seamless. Google’s documentation notes that changes made on another device or via the Google Photos website can be properly synced with the associated gallery apps. There are also situations where album names and duplicate images cannot be synced properly.
For these reasons, I recommend sticking with the Google Photos app wherever possible until the above issues are resolved.
Follow @paul_monckton on Instagram