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Nov 15, 2023

Google Photos is about to get a cleaner UI

As functional as apps are, sometimes what makes an app better than another app

As functional as apps are, sometimes what makes an app better than another app isn't to do with how it works, but rather how it looks and how easy it is to use. This is why in addition to being functional, developers also need to understand how to create a UI experience that makes it easier on the users.

For those who found that Google Photos’ settings menu on their phones a bit too cluttered and unfriendly to use, then you’re in luck. It appears that Google has started a small rollout of an update to the app where they have tidied up the app's settings interface, making it look less cluttered and easier to understand at a glance.

This was initially discovered by Telegram user Cătălin and later confirmed by Mishaal Rahman. Now instead of users being greeted by a long list of settings accompanied by short descriptions, which makes it look messy and complicated, the new look has been compressed with just six top-level destinations.

We can understand the previous design as the accompanying descriptions were meant to make it easier for users to see what each option does, but at the same time, it made it look messy and to a certain extent, overwhelming. The UI changes have only rolled out to a small number of users, but we expect that it will eventually reach more users in the near future.

Source: Android Police