Google Photos has rolled out a new feature that will make it easier to search for specific photos and videos. On Thursday, the Mountain View tech giant announced the rollout of Descriptive Queries, an improved version of the app’s native search feature. It lets users type in plain language queries and find more detailed results. The feature is rolling out to all iOS and Android users. Interestingly, the company is also giving US users early access to an unreleased AI-powered Ask Photos feature that uses Gemini to search for images.
Google Photos Update with Descriptive Query Support
In a blog post, the tech giant announced Descriptive Queries. The feature is an improvement on Google Photos’ native search functionality, which is located at the bottom of the app. Previously, users could search for specific images by adding keywords. However, further refinement of search results was not possible.
Descriptive Query Feature in Google Photos
Photo source: Google
However, with the improvement, users can type natural language search queries that can be as long as a sentence to find specific images and videos. For example, searching for “Alice and I laughing” or “Kayaking on a lake surrounded by mountains” will show relevant results. Google said users can also use vague language in their search queries.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t a feature supported by Gemini, and it’s being rolled out to all iOS and Android users. However, Descriptive Queries will only work if the user’s smartphone language is set to English. Google says the search feature will be expanded to more languages in the coming weeks.
Additionally, Google Photos will allow users to sort results by date or relevance, making it even easier to find the right photo.
Google is also rolling out early access to a recently introduced AI-powered feature that lets you search for images and videos within the app, called Ask Photos. Powered by Gemini, it lets users use AI to type conversational suggestions. Gemini uses computer vision to process users’ Google Photos library and find relevant images.
This is an experimental feature that is part of Google Labs. It is currently in early access for select users in the US. The company said it will expand to more users later in the year.
