Google Photos has revealed new capabilities, with ability to import photos from iCloud

Google has revealed in a blog post that "over the coming weeks," there will be a slew of new – and beneficial – features coming to Google Photos. These enhancements, which include a new layout for improved organizing, discovery, sharing, and importing of photographs, are the same ones we reported on last month and then again last week.

Import from Third-Party Services (iCloud, Facebook)

The new "Import images" feature makes it easy to import photos from third-party services like iCloud and Facebook, as well as digitize actual media like photos, videos, and films that you might have laying about your house. Finally, there is an option to "copy media from a digital camera," which I believe I will use frequently.

Remove Unwanted Screenshots

This update will provide a shortcut at the top of the main photo grid that will take you right to your screenshots, allowing you to avoid storing numerous photos on your Android smartphone. This feature has all the capabilities of a photo finder app and is quite handy. Additionally, while viewing a screenshot, a carousel of contextual options will appear, including copying text, cropping, and searching with Google Lens.

Library Tab

Smart chips at the top of the new library tab allow you to quickly filter and organize photographs in your albums, on your device or shared with others. Unlike the huge button available on the prior version of the library, the option to "create a new album" is shown as text sandwiched between the smart chips and the photo grid. Viewing your garbage, picture archive, utilities, hidden folder, and a brand-new option for importing images can all be found towards the bottom of the library.

Streamlining the Sharing Process

The "Create shared album" option has been renamed to "Start shared album" under the "Sharing" page, and the albums that have previously been shared are shown clearly below in their area. Instead of having everything packed together as previously in the old version, "Conversations" and "Shared links" now have their own sections beneath shared albums. According to Google, these improvements to the sharing tab will be available on Android smartphones this week and on iOS devices soon.

In the following weeks, all Android phones will receive the functionality stated above. It's unclear whether this will be a server-side upgrade or if a new version of Google Photos will be required from the Play Store.