Google Photos gets an AI-powered scrapbook overhaul

Most of our camera rolls are graveyards of accidental screenshots, duplicate burst shots, and blurry clips, with actual life milestones buried somewhere in between.

Four years ago, Google Photos added the Memories carousel to the top of the feed to resurface those hidden gems. Today, that carousel has over half a billion monthly active users, and Google is finally giving it a dedicated home.

A scrapbook timeline that names itself

Google is rolling out a brand-new Memories view right in the bottom navigation bar of the app. It organizes your photos and videos into an automatically curated, scrapbook-style timeline of trips, events, and everyday highlights.

While AI does the heavy lifting of grouping and selecting shots, you still have full control. You can save your favorite memories, build one from scratch, swap out specific media, or hide certain people and moments completely.

To make organizing less of a chore, Google is also testing generative AI for title creation through Google Labs. When viewing select memories, tapping the "Help me title" button generates customized name ideas based on the content.

If the first batch does not hit the mark, you can ask for more options or tap "Add hint" to steer the model toward specific details. For now, this experimental title generator is only rolling out to select accounts in the U.S.

Co-authoring moments with friends

Google is also making these curated timelines social. Much like shared albums, you can now invite friends and family to co-author a memory, letting them drop in their own photos and videos to fill in the blind spots.

Any memory shared with you can be saved directly into your own Memories view so you can revisit it later. Google noted that an option to export these memories as standalone videos for messaging apps and social media is coming soon.

The new Memories view starts rolling out in the U.S. today and will reach global users over the coming months.

Why it matters

We think this update shows a clear pivot in how cloud storage services view their role. Cloud photo apps used to be passive digital dumpsters where files went to sleep; now Google wants Photos to be an active, engaging media hub you browse like an algorithmically tailored feed.

Putting Memories in the primary bottom navigation is a bold bet that users want automated storytelling more than a chronological folder tree. Adding generative AI to write titles sounds minor, but it targets real user friction—naming folders is tedious, and automated titles make private scrapbooks instantly shareable.

The co-authoring feature is also a smart wedge to drive network effects against Apple Photos. Still, the risk is always precision. Algorithmic curation can easily dredge up painful memories or awkward framing, and while Google provides controls to hide content, algorithmic empathy remains an unsolved design puzzle.