The new ‘Ask’ button in Google Photos can use Gemini for more than you might expect

Google Photos is currently seeing some of the most practical applications of Google’s strategy to weave in Gemini everywhere they can. While the “Ask Photos” feature has already begun transforming the way we search through years of backed-up memories, a new, more contextual “Ask” button is now arriving for eligible users on Android and iOS in the U.S. to take things a step further.

This update represents a shift from general library-wide searching to real-time, photo-specific assistance. While the standard Ask Photos tool focuses on finding a needle in the haystack of your entire gallery, the Ask button lives directly within the image viewer. It allows you to treat a single photo as a starting point for a deeper conversation with Gemini about its content, location, or even how you’d like to change it.

More than just a search bar

The distinction between these two features is important for anyone trying to navigate the new AI-heavy interface. When you open a…