Google Photos Gets a Big Redesign with Light Mode, New Menus, and Smarter Photo Tools
Google has started rolling out a major redesign of the Google Photos app, focusing on making the ‘Your Photos’ view more clean, modern, and user-friendly. This new update improves the way users view and manage their photos without removing any existing features.
Light Mode and Smart Design
One of the biggest visual changes is the introduction of a new light mode. Now, Google Photos will automatically switch between light and dark modes, depending on your phone’s system settings. This helps make the app feel more consistent with your device’s overall appearance.
Clearer Photo Info at a Glance
When viewing a photo, you’ll now see important details like the date, time, and location clearly displayed at the top. This small change makes it much easier for users to know exactly when and where a photo was taken, without having to dig through menus.
Easier Navigation with Simplified Menus
Google has streamlined the menus in the app. Many important options have been moved under a new three-dot menu, making it easier to find actions like:
- Viewing photo details
- Using Google Lens
- Casting photos to a smart device
- Saving motion or live photos as stills
- Downloading or deleting a photo
Even with the menu changes, users still have access to the Add to (+) button at the bottom of the screen, which lets them add photos to albums, archive them, or move them to the Locked Folder.
Better Control Over Photo Stacks and Bursts
If you take burst photos or have stacked images, you’ll now see a dedicated three-dot icon on the thumbnail. This makes it easier to:
- Change the top photo in a stack
- Unstack or remove photos
- Select multiple photos at once for batch actions
New Badges for Better Photo Management
Google has also added new badges to help users quickly interact with their photos. These badges allow you to:
- Change the photo category (like marking it as a favorite)
- Play or pause live or motion photos
- Save shared photos to your personal library
- Check and manage your backup and storage settings
When Will You Get the Update?
Google says the redesign is already live on iOS and will roll out to Android devices very soon. So if you’re using an iPhone, you may already see the new changes. Android users should expect it in the coming days.
Just a day after the Pixel 10’s color options were leaked, the upcoming Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL have now been shown in all their colors too.
The Pixel 10 Pro will reportedly come in four color options:
- Obsidian (a dark gray/black),
- Porcelain (white),
- Moonstone (a slate blue-gray),
- Jade (a soft pistachio green with gold accents).
These names follow Google’s usual style of using creative names for color variants.
Interestingly, the Pixel 10 Pro XL will be available in the exact same four colors. While some fans were hoping for a unique shade exclusive to the larger model, Google has decided to keep the options consistent across both Pro versions.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL is expected to have a 5,200 mAh battery which is the biggest ever in a Pixel phone. Both Pro models will come with telephoto cameras, macro photography support, and run on Google’s new Tensor G5 chipset, made by TSMC.
The entire Pixel 10 series is set to launch officially on August 20.
Google has announced new updates to its AI Mode with the introduction of Gemini 2.5 Pro. This update is available only for AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers, who can now select this advanced model directly from a drop-down menu in Google Search.
Gemini 2.5 Pro: Smarter AI for Complex Tasks
The Gemini 2.5 Pro model is designed to handle complex reasoning, mathematics, and coding tasks. It provides detailed and accurate answers for difficult questions, making it a powerful tool for those needing deeper insights.
Deep Search: Better for Research
Google has also launched Deep Search, its most advanced research tool so far. Powered by Gemini 2.5 Pro, Deep Search can perform hundreds of searches automatically, read information from different sources, and create well-organized, fully cited reports in a short time.
This tool is useful for students, professionals, hobbyists, and people making big life decisions such as buying a home or managing finances.
AI-Powered Business Calls: Saving Time for Users
Another new feature is Agentic AI Calling. This allows Google Search to call local businesses for you. For example, if you search for “pet groomers near me,” you can click on “Have AI check pricing”, and the AI will call businesses to ask about availability and prices.
The AI then gathers this information and shows it in a simple, easy-to-compare format. Businesses still have control over how AI interacts with them through their Google Business Profile settings.
Availability
According to Robby Stein, Google Search’s VP of Product, these updates are first being offered to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers as part of Google’s plan to test new AI features with select users before making them widely available.
- Gemini 2.5 Pro and Deep Search became available on June 16, 2025, for U.S.-based AI Pro and Ultra subscribers through the AI Mode experiment via Labs.
- The Agentic AI Calling feature is already rolling out to all Search users in the U.S., with higher usage limits for Pro and Ultra subscribers.
Google has added a new feature to Veo 3, the video creation tool in its Gemini AI platform. Now, users can turn still images into short videos using artificial intelligence.
How It Works
With this new update, users can upload a photo and Gemini will create an 8-second video clip from it. The video will also include sound, based on your instructions.
To use the feature:
- Go to the Videos option in the tool menu.
- Upload an image.
- Describe the scene you want, and give any audio instructions.
- Gemini will then generate the video, which you can download or share.
Users can also give thumbs up or down feedback to help Google improve the tool.
Who Can Use It?
This feature is available now for Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in select countries. The same function is also available in Flow, Google’s AI tool for filmmaking.
Rapid Growth
Google shared that more than 40 million videos have already been created using Veo 3 through the Gemini app and Flow in the last seven weeks. With this new photo-to-video option, that number is expected to grow even faster.
AI Watermarks
All videos made with this tool will include both a visible watermark and a hidden SynthID digital watermark to clearly mark them as AI-generated.