Android users will now be able to access their Google Photos media from the local photo picker،
For Android users, using Google Photos to store your digital media is a very popular choice. Although having 128 GB, 256 GB or even 512 GB of storage was once enough to not have to worry about running out of space anytime soon, these days devices with more advanced camera systems and photos and Higher quality videos generally equate to larger file sizes. . But all of a sudden we always need more space.
That's where cloud storage comes in. While it's still an extra charge we have to pay, it's at least flexible to the point where you can change your plans and add or remove space according to your needs. This is not something you can do easily with hardware.
On Android, when you want to share a photo or video, the file picker normally displays locally stored data. For those who want to attach something that is stored only in the cloud, the additional steps of opening that cloud storage app separately and then downloading the file would be necessary. Fortunately, this will no longer be the case for Google Photos users.
As announced in detail on the
Android Developer Blog, Google is currently rolling out support for a highly requested feature that will significantly change the way you select photos on your phone. In addition to locally stored media, you will now be able to easily access all your photos and videos saved on Google Photo. It even uses the “Favorites” category.
The feature is currently deployed as part of the
Google System Update February 2024 for devices running Android 12 or higher and is already enabled for Google Photos. Once it's available to you, you should see a notice that says “Cloud Photos Now Available” at the top of the Android Photo Picker.
However, Google Photos isn't the only cloud storage service that can benefit from this. An API will be available for cloud media applications registered with
Google Cloud Media Provider Pilot Program, so that they too can integrate this functionality into their applications. This will also allow users to select which of the eligible applications they want to use as default to access cloud media.
Image source: Google
This feature will now allow Android users to have more flexibility with their device storage and will be able to upload certain photos and videos to cloud storage without worrying about the difficulty of accessing them later. Being able to access both your local and cloud media in one place will also eliminate the need to switch between apps when choosing to share memories.
