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Google Photos to Serve Up 'Memories,' Simplify Photo Printing

New ways to enjoy old photos include the upcoming photo conversation sharing, text-in-image search, and photo printing thanks to partnerships with CVS and Walmart.

 & Michael Muchmore Contributor

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Over a billion people in 70 countries use Google Photos to store, edit, and share their visual memories, and Google has a few new features in store for them.

Much like Facebook's Your Memories, a new Google Photos Memories feature will surface snapshots you shared in recent years. A new chat-like photo-sharing feature due out in the coming months, meanwhile, will let you have a conversation with images. And the app now lets you print canvases and 4-by-6 photographs thanks to partnerships with CVS and Walmart Photo.

Google Photos MemoriesMemories will appear as circular image at the top of the Google Photos interface on desktop and mobile. The feature uses machine intelligence to find the best photos from the same week a year ago, two years ago, and so on. So, you shouldn't see duplicates and screenshots in your Memories. A Hide option lets you suppress those people and pets that are too painful to remember while recalling the good memories you may have forgotten.

Conversational sharing encourages ongoing photo exchanges among close contacts. New photos of chosen people will automatically be added to the conversation, and you can have these photos cycle on a Google Nest Hub display, with the newly added images showing up automatically.

The app also now lets you Search for text. Say you took a picture of a recipe for scones. Now you can search for "scone" and you'll not only see photos containing the buttery morning pastry, but also any photos containing the word "scone" as text. This is also useful for signs and event posters you've shot.

Other auto-creations that will remain in Google Photos include movies, animations, collages, and color pop, which changes backgrounds to black and white. A Google rep said 35 million of these edited photos are shared or saved every week.

Memories and text-in-image search will start rolling out today, and conversational sharing will roll out over the next few months.

Photo Printing Made Easy

Google staff was surprised when user feedback indicated that lots of people asked when Google Photos would include printing capability.

Google Photos Canvas Prints

Google is offering two printing options: Large (up to 16-by-20-inch) canvas prints and same-day 4-by-6-inch prints. Partnerships with Walmart Photo (a PCMag Editors' Choice photo printing service) and CVS Photo enable the latter option.

Unfortunately, these won't be the cheapest photo prints around, as same-day services charge a premium. The Walmart Prints are 25 cents each, and the CVS print prices vary by location. For my test New York location, the price was 33 cents per 4-by-6 print—the same as you'd pay ordering from CVS's website.

The company still offers photo book printing starting at $9.99, but the new individual print service is more suitable for attaching your favorite shots to the fridge. The new wall-mountable canvas prints start at $19.99 and are available in three sizes, 8 by 8, 11 by 14, and 16 by 20 inches.

Same-day photo prints and canvas prints are available starting today.

About Our Expert

Michael Muchmore

Michael Muchmore

Contributor

My Experience

I've been testing PC and mobile software for more than 20 years, focusing on photo and video editing, operating systems, and web browsers. Prior to my current role, I covered software and apps for ExtremeTech and headed up PCMag’s enterprise software team. I’ve attended trade shows for Microsoft, Google, and Apple and written about all of them and their products.

I still get a kick out of seeing what's new in video and photo editing software, and how operating systems change over time. I was privileged to byline the cover story of the last print issue of PC Magazine, the Windows 7 review, and I’ve witnessed every Microsoft misstep and win, up to the latest Windows 11.

I’m an avid bird photographer and traveler—I’ve been to 40 countries, many with great birds! Because I’m also a classical music fan and former performer, I’ve reviewed streaming services that emphasize classical music.

Technology I Use

For everyday work, I use a good-old Dell tower with 16GB of RAM, a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, and an Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti GPU that runs on Windows 11. I pair it with a 4K Lenovo ThinkVision P27u-10 monitor and a Logitech MX Vertical mouse. For offsite work, I use a 2024 Microsoft Surface Laptop with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor. Camera-wise, I moved to mirrorless from a Canon EOS 80D with a Canon 70-300mm IS USM lens. I now have a Canon EOS R7 with a 100-400mm lens, but I miss my DSLR for several reasons.

In order of usage, the software I turn to most frequently is the Edge web browser, Slack, Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365, Firefox, Brave, and WhatsApp. I use the Windows Phone link app to see everything on my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra phone, which has excellent telephoto capability.

For fitness monitoring, I have a Fitbit Charge 6 and use an Anker Smart Scale P1. I’m also a streaming fan, so I subscribe to both Amazon Music Unlimited (especially for its Dolby Atmos content) and Qobuz (for its high-res sound quality and classical catalog). I recently added a Vizio 5.1 Soundbar SE, which sounds surprisingly good given its low price. To holler commands instead of using a remote control, I have the Amazon Fire TV Cube in the living room, which lets me verbally tell the TV what I want to watch. It hooks up to an LG B4 OLED TV. I have a Sonos One speaker in my kitchen that also ties in with Alexa, as does the Echo Dot 2 With Clock in my bedroom. For serious listening, I have B&W 601 speakers plugged into a Conrad-Johnson Sonographe amp and preamp, with a Cambridge Audio AXN10 streamer as source. For reading, I also have a Nook GlowLight 3.

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