Google Photos' faces row could make searching even easier (APK teardown)

Android Authority

23-07-2025

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR Google Photos v7.38 includes code for UI refinements, such as a persistent face row in search, which offers faster access to photos and videos of frequently appearing faces.
We've also spotted a couple of visual changes to the upcoming Create tab and the Remix feature.
Google Photos is due for some significant changes. There are plenty of Material 3 Expressive changes on the horizon, as well as new features like Remix and the Create tab. While we patiently wait for the new changes to arrive, the Google Photos team is hard at work further refining the UI for a better user experience. With Google Photos v7.38, we've spotted code for several UI changes for some of these upcoming features, which we enabled to give you an early look.
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An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
Google Photos: Persistent face row in the search section
Starting off, Google seems to be working towards adding a faces row to the search area. Currently, when you search within your Google Photos library, you can search for people, but you must start inputting text to get relevant face suggestions. In the future, Google Photos will pre-emptively show some of the most commonly appearing faces in your photos library, so you can easily select them to search for all photos where the face appears.
Current search UI
Upcoming search UI
Upcoming search UI - Shortcut to People and Pets section
The first screenshot above shows the current behavior, while the second screenshot shows the upcoming behavior with the new faces row. The new UI features the search bar at the bottom, which we've spotted before but hasn't yet rolled out.
In the third screenshot above, tapping the three-dot button will open the People and pets section with all recognized faces. You can already access this section from the Collections tab, but this change gives the section another logical entry point.
Upcoming Create tab gets UI changes
We've already covered the upcoming Create tab within Google Photos, which is destined to consolidate all creation tools, such as Collage, Highlight video, Cinematic photo, and more, into one tab. While the feature has yet to be rolled out, Google is already making changes to its UI, primarily removing the colorful shape masks from over the promo images.
Upcoming Create tab - Previously spotted UI
Upcoming Create tab - Newly spotted UI
Here's a demo video showing the upcoming Create tab with the newly spotted visuals:
Upcoming Remix promo screen gets changes
The upcoming Remix feature also now has a different promo screen:
Google Photos Remix - Previously spotted promo screen
Google Photos Remix - Newly spotted promo screen
The new promo screen shows more styles in focus, which better represents the feature than the previous promo screen.
All of these features are still in development, so there's a fair possibility of further changes on the horizon. It remains to be seen which direction Google finally settles on for these changes. We'll keep you updated when we learn more.
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