5 Annoying Features on Google Photos You Should Turn Off Immediately

Google Photos is one of the apps I use most often, but I have to admit that not all of its features are pleasant. When an app tries to do so much like Google Photos, it's inevitable that some annoying features will appear. Luckily, most of them can be easily turned off.

 

Note: The features below apply to Google Photos on Android and iPhone, not to the web version on computers. Some options are only available on Android.

1. The 'Quick Edit' step is unnecessary when sharing photos.

Added last year, Quick Edit adds an unnecessary step to sharing photos. Every time you tap Share, Google Photos takes you to a simplified editing screen, assuming you want to edit the photo before sending it.

 

If you've already edited the photo beforehand (or simply don't need to), this screen is actually quite annoying.

How to turn it off:

1. Photos settings → Sharing
2. Turn off Quick edit before sharing

2. Memories shows you people you don't want to see.

Memories is the content that appears at the top of the Google Photos homepage. And those memories aren't always… pleasant.

The good news is you can hide people or pets you don't want to appear in Memories.

Making:

1. Photos settings → Preferences → Memories
2. Select Hide people & pets
3. Add people/pets to the Blocked list.
   
   

Additionally, you can choose "Show more" or "Show less" for each person so that Google Photos can adjust the frequency of their photos being displayed.

3. Being reminded of days you don't want to remember.

If the issue isn't about people but about specific dates, Google Photos also allows you to hide photos by date.

Making:

1. Photos settings → Preferences → Memories
2. Select Hide dates
3. Choose a day, a time period, or even a year.

All photos and videos taken during these time periods will no longer appear in Memories.

4. Google's photo printing service advertisement.

 

Google Photos has a built-in photo printing service, and chances are you're aware of it… unintentionally. The app frequently sends promotional notifications to sell photo books, printed photos, etc.

How to turn off photo printing ads:

1. Photos settings → Notifications
2. Turn off the following items:
   
   
   1. Printing promotions
   2. Printing drafts
   3. Prints for you

Note: If you have turned off all Google Photos notifications, these options will not appear.

5. Videos automatically play when scrolling through photos.

By default, Google Photos automatically plays videos and GIFs as you scroll through your timeline, much like Instagram. For many, this is a distracting feature—not to mention it consumes extra mobile data.

How to turn it off:

1. Photos settings → Preferences
2. Turn off Photo grid playback

The photos will be much quieter, and you'll save a little data too.

Google Photos hasn't been overly "AI-driven" like some other Google products, but it's clearly no longer just a simple photo gallery app. Taking a few minutes to disable these unnecessary features will make your Google Photos experience much more pleasant.