How To Get the Most Out of Your Google or Apple Photos Memories

When you consider how many photos and videos most of us load onto our smartphones every day, it’s perhaps no surprise that there’s rarely time to go through and pick out special moments or special highlights – which is why photo library apps have with the curation in our order started.

Both Google Photos and Apple Photos offer better and better ways to bring memories from the past to the surface: a certain landscape, a memorable grin from your child, a well-timed picture of a pet. Many of these functions are automatic, but there are ways to tweak how they work and gain more control over our digital memories.

Google Photos

Download Google Photos for Android or iOSand you can find your memories in the Photos tab at the top: Google says These are created “based on your best photos, travels you’ve taken and moments you’ve celebrated” – they’re unique to you, of course, and can include compiled videos as well as photos.

In an attempt to make these collections more immersive, you might see a subtle zoom effect on some static images, and maybe an instrumental music clip or two. Additional effects that the algorithm uses occasionally are cinematic photos (Creating a 3D effect with a subject) and using graphics meant to mimic a scrapbook.

For some memories, including the movie stills, you have the option to save the creation to your library. there might be one To press Option linked to physical products. You also always have the option to share memories with other people – just click the Share button (the familiar three dots and two dashes in a less-than sign). There is always one favourites Star if you want to find something later.

Of course, there will be certain people and places that you would rather not be reminded of. In the Google Photos app, tap your profile picture (top right), then tap photo settings and memories. You have two choices here—Hide people and pets and Hide appointments– lets you limit the memories you see (and Google’s algorithms are pretty good at recognizing who’s who in your photo library).

Beat Progressive or Selected memories to also control the types of reminders you see. You might want to stick with the latest highlights instead of bringing back photos and videos from years ago, for example, or you can opt to see collages but not film photos.

All of these options are also available in Google Photos on the web. Your memories appear at the top of the photos tab and you can click on any of them to go to Favorites and Sharing options. To change the reminders you see to exclude specific people, pets, and dates, click the gear icon (top right), then select memories.

Apple photos

The Photos app that Apple builds into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS has a similar reminders feature that works in the same way as the one in Google Photos. On iOS and iPadOS, tap For her Tab to see what the app has selected for you: You can swipe or tap through the selection See everything to access everything on the same screen.

These “curated collections” consist of “significant people, places and events” identified in your photo library, apple says. You can actually apply a different “Mix” to a Memory if you like: tap one to open it, then tap the screen and select the “Memory Mixes” button (the musical note). You can swipe to change the music mix and tap the filter button (three circles) to change how a reminder looks.

While viewing a reminder, you’ll see the option to share it with other people in the top right, along with a menu button (three dots in a circle): tap that button and you can save a reminder as a favorite, with that You can find it later, change the title of the reminder, and add and remove photos or videos in it as needed.

Like Google Photos, you can limit what you see in Memories, but you’ll have to do this from Memories itself (so you might see something you don’t want to see until you tweak the feature): tap the menu icon ( three dots in a circle) in the upper right corner of a memory, tap Function Lessand then select Show one less person, Imagine this place less, Mark less this holiday, function less that dayor Fewer features these days (Not all of these options may appear in every memory).

You can turn off reminders entirely by going to Settings in iOS or iPadOS and then tapping photos and turn off the Show featured content toggle switch. If you want the app to forget the restrictions you previously placed on what you want to watch, you can do that via the Reset suggested reminders and Reset person suggestions Options on the same screen.

Over on macOS, You have similar options: In the Photos app You will see one memories Entry in the left-hand side navigation pane that you can use to navigate to the curated collections that Apple’s algorithms have assembled. You can share and favorite Memories from the desktop, but you don’t get the same remixing and editing options as you do on your phone.