Google is preparing to change how you watch your old videos by testing a new vertical scrolling feed similar to TikTok. This unreleased feature aims to keep you engaged with your own personal memories rather than public viral content. It seems the tech giant wants to turn your private gallery into your next favorite viewing experience.
The feature was discovered hidden inside the code of the latest Google Photos app for Android. It suggests a major shift in how the platform handles video playback and content discovery.
A New Way To Watch Private Moments
The classic grid view we have used for years might soon have a modern companion. Reports indicate that Google is testing a specific “Related” button that appears when you play a video in Google Photos.
Clicking this button instantly launches a vertical feed of similar videos from your own library.
This interface looks and feels exactly like the popular short-form video apps many people use daily. You can swipe up to see the next video or swipe down to go back. The key difference is the content itself. You are not seeing strangers dancing or cooking trends. You are seeing your own vacations, birthday parties and pet videos.
This change acknowledges a massive shift in user behavior. People are now accustomed to consuming media in a continuous vertical stream. Google seems to be adapting its photo storage app to match this muscle memory.
Here is what the leaked interface reportedly includes:
- A “Related” chip or button overlay on the video player.
- A vertical scrolling mechanism for continuous playback.
- Automatic selection of thematically linked clips.
- A clean interface focused on viewing rather than editing.
Exploring The Shift To Vertical Video
The influence of vertical video formats is undeniable in the current tech landscape. Applications like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts have conditioned users to expect an endless stream of content.
Google Photos has previously stuck to a traditional gallery layout. You scroll through a grid of thumbnails arranged by date. While effective for finding specific items, it is not designed for casual viewing or entertainment.
This new feature attempts to make rediscovering old memories as addictive as scrolling through social media.
This move follows the successful introduction of “Memories” a few years ago. That feature brought the “Stories” format to the app with circular icons at the top of the gallery. It proved that users enjoy curated, passive viewing of their history. The new vertical feed takes this a step further by focusing specifically on video content.
Video files often get buried in the main grid among thousands of still photos. They require more effort to open and watch individually. A dedicated feed removes that friction. It invites users to stay in the app longer by serving up clip after clip without requiring them to return to the main menu.
How Artificial Intelligence Powers The Feed
The magic behind this feature lies in how the app decides what to show you next. The “Related” button implies a sophisticated sorting process happens in the background.
Google likely utilizes its advanced AI to analyze the content of the video you are currently watching.
If you are watching a video of your dog playing at the park, the feed will likely populate with other clips of your dog or perhaps other outdoor activities. This requires the app to understand objects, faces, locations and dates instantly.
We can look at the potential logic used here:
- Face Recognition: Identifying people in the clip to find matches.
- Object Detection: Noticing pets, cars or food to group similar themes.
- Location Data: Pulling other videos taken at the same holiday spot.
- Time Stamps: Grouping clips from the same event or weekend.
This level of curation turns a messy digital shoebox into a structured narrative. It does the heavy lifting of searching for you. Users no longer need to type “beach 2021” to find those clips. They just watch one and let the algorithm do the rest.
Balancing Engagement With Digital Wellbeing
The idea of “doomscrolling” usually carries a negative connotation. It refers to mindlessly consuming bad news or toxic social media content for hours.
Google Photos offers a healthier alternative to this behavior. The goal here is to create a positive feedback loop using your own happy moments.
There is no performance anxiety in this feed. You do not need to worry about likes, comments or subscriber counts. The toxic elements of public social media are completely absent.
However, the design is still intended to increase time spent in the app. Tech companies constantly compete for user attention. By mimicking the most addictive interface design in the world, Google ensures its photo app remains a primary destination on your phone.
The feature is currently in a testing phase and is not yet available to the general public. It was spotted in a “teardown” of the app version 7.60. This means the code exists but is switched off for regular users.
Code enthusiasts enable these hidden flags to see what developers are working on. Features found this way often roll out weeks or months later, though some are scrapped entirely. Given the dominance of vertical video, this one seems highly likely to launch.
It represents a logical evolution for Google. They already have the infrastructure with YouTube Shorts. Applying that same fluid user interface to personal media makes sense. It bridges the gap between a utility app for storage and a lifestyle app for entertainment.
We expect Google to refine the animation and transition smoothness before an official release.
Early reports suggest the current version lacks the polish of a finished product. The scrolling might be jittery or the matching algorithm might need tuning. But the core concept is clear. Google wants you to get lost in your own life story, one swipe at a time.
This update could fundamentally change how we interact with our digital archives. Instead of scrolling back to find a specific date, we might just open a video and let the app take us on a journey. It turns the act of remembering into an effortless stream of entertainment.
