Google Photos is reportedly getting a new redesign that removes the hamburger menu and relocates the search bar. While Google often adds new features to the app, this is one of the first times in a while the software giant has worked to refine the user interface.
The redesigned interface was first spotted by the folks over at Android Police. According to the report, you will no longer see the hamburger menu at the top left corner of the app. With this omission, Google Photos relies more on the bottom bar just like Google Maps whose recent design overhaul involved ditching the hamburger menu.
As you can see in the image below, the Search functionality has been incorporated into the bottom bar of the app, increasing the number of items in the bottom bar to five namely Photos, Search, For you, Sharing, and Library.
The redesign kills the Albums tab but the functionalities of the tab have been retained in the Library section. The Library section also adds a few features that were previously present in the hamburger menu like Archive, Trash, Utilities (could be Free up space, Manage your library) and integrates Favorites from Albums.
Coming to the Search interface, it is evident that the app developers have prioritized on enhancing the visual appeal of categories. For instance, “People & Pets” are noticeably larger than what we already have in the old design. The same goes for Places and Things.
The account picker screen has received a minor design change that adds a “Photos settings” shortcut and “Help & Feedback”. The redesigned interface appears to be a server-side rollout and it is not live on any of the phones we checked here at the office. You will hopefully be getting the new interface in the upcoming weeks.
