Photos gets a new look for Memories and a collage editor

When Google Photos launched Memories three years ago (almost to the day), it was the beginning of an ongoing evolution from an app where you store photos and videos to a place where you can reflect on meaningful moments. Since then, Memories has become one of Photos’ most beloved features, with more than 3.5 billion Memories viewed each month.

To make looking back on and sharing important moments easier, we’re rolling out the biggest update to Memories since its launch and giving you a new collage editor so you can easily make shareable creations.

Immerse yourself in your Memories

The redesigned Memories experience transports you back in time. With the update that starts rolling out today, you’ll see more videos — including the best snippets from your longer videos that Photos will automatically select and trim so you can relive the most meaningful moments. Even your still photos will feel more dynamic thanks to a subtle zoom that brings movement to your memories. And to bring it all together, next month we’ll start adding instrumental music to some Memories. It’s amazing how the combination of movement, video and music immerses you in your memories. I often catch myself rewatching these new Memories multiple times — especially those of my kids.

As always, you have the control to hide photos of certain people or time periods from showing up in Memories so you can relive the moments you want to.

See your Memories brought to life

When you have hundreds of photos, it’s hard to manually scroll through your library to relive important moments. That’s my favorite thing about Memories — Google Photos does the work of resurfacing those moments so you can reminisce. I love seeing my old photos in a new light with creative edits like animations, Cinematic photos and collages.

Cinematic photos — the vibrant, moving, 3D representations of your photos shown in Memories — have quickly become one of our most-saved visual effects since they launched in 2020. Soon, you’ll begin to see full Cinematic Memories that transform multiple still photos into an end-to-end cinematic experience, taking you back to that moment in time. Cinematic Memories will also have music, making your photos feel a little more like a movie.

Drawing inspiration from old scrapbooks, we’re also rolling out a new feature called Styles where graphic art is automatically added to your memories to make them pop. There will be several designs at launch, including limited-time styles from featured artists Shantell Martin and Lisa Congdon made just for Google Photos.

Share your Memories

Your Memories in Google Photos are only visible to you, but we know there are times when you may want to share them with family and friends. In fact, this has been the number one requested feature. I'm always eager to share Memories of a trip I took with friends or of my twins doing something cute. Today, we’re starting to roll out the ability to share entire Memories with your friends and family in just a few taps on Android (with iOS and Web coming soon), so they can view them right from Google Photos on any device.

Get creative with easy editing tools

Want to express your creativity and add your personal touch? Easy-to-use editing features, like smart suggestions and Real Tone filters, are a few of the ways you can do just that. And now, we're adding a new collage editor (that starts rolling out today on Android and iOS).

With the new collage editor, you can easily create shareable collages. Pick your photos, select your design (including styles from featured artists) and easily rearrange the layout with simple drag-and-drop controls. You can even edit the photos right from the collage editor — adjust brightness or contrast, apply filters and more. Google One members and Pixel users can also use additional editing features like Portrait Light or HDR within their collages and access more than 30 additional designs.

Next time you're feeling nostalgic or have a creative itch, just remember: Google Photos has easy ways to look back, share and edit your important moments in just a few taps.