By Abner Li
Publication Date: 2026-01-28 02:33:00
A post on the Android Developers Blog today highlights the “new” embedded photo picker and its use in Google Messages.
Developers can integrate the photo picker into their applications instead of just having a system sheet slide up for a more seamless experience. Overall, this approach “eliminates the need for users to switch between apps or worry about whether the photo they want is stored locally or in the cloud.” On the privacy front, apps don’t need “access to the user’s photos or videos until they actually select something.”
In a Google Messages chat, tapping the gallery icon in the text field brings up the combined camera and embedded photo picker interface. Upon scrolling, the reverse chronological grid of images and videos expands to take up the entire screen, with Messages noting “To [contact]” at the top.
As always, you can “Search Google Photos” and switch to the “Collections” tab for your Favorites, Camera, From…
