Google Photos' search capability was already great and its keyword matching system worked for the most part, but the new AI-powered Ask Photos experience is even better. Google has baked Gemini directly into Google Photos so you can now search using natural and descriptive language. It can connect all the context to find exactly what you are looking for. Now, let's go ahead and learn how to use Ask Photos on Google Photos.
What is Ask Photos on Google Photos?
Ask Photos is an AI-powered search experience inside Google Photos that can understand your descriptive search queries and show relevant results. It's using Google's powerful Gemini AI models to deliver a smart search experience.
It understands the context of your entire Google Photos library, including the most important people in your life, your favorite foods, locations, hobbies, and more. You can search using natural language and add as many details as you want.
Ask Photos is currently opt-in and it replaces the classic Search tab with a new Ask tab. Unlike classic search which was more like a keyword matching system, Ask Photos understands the context, and connects the dots using multiple data points. It can extract details like where you took the photo with your hat on, or what dish you ordered when you were at a restaurant .
Essentially, Ask Photos is the next evolution of classic search, similar to what Google is doing with Ask Maps on Google Maps. It's available on Pixel phones as well as on other Android phones and iPhones.
How to Enable and Use Ask Photos AI on Google Photos
Before using Ask Photos, you must enable it in Google Photos since it's an opt-in feature. Go through the steps below and turn it on.
- Firstly, launch Google Photos on your phone and tap on the Search tab at the bottom.
- Here, tap on the Try Ask Photos banner beneath the search bar.
- Next, choose Try asking and then tap on the Turn on button. Ask Photos is now enabled inside your Google Photos app.
- To use Ask Photos, tap on the Ask tab at the bottom right and enter your question in natural language in the text box on the subsequent screen.
- You can also use the Microphone icon to describe what you are looking for.
- For instance, I typed, "show me photos from my last visit to Kolkata" and it accurately pulled the images.
- In another example to showcase how specific you can be, I searched, "what did I eat on my first day in Mumbai".
Again, Ask Photos nailed it! It showed me images of what I ate along with the exact location, date, and who I was with. No manual digging required.
What Can You Do With Ask Photos?
The new Gemini-powered Ask Photos feature inside Google Photos is much more powerful and you can use it for several use cases. You can throw any broad or specific query and it surprisingly works. Here are some real-world use cases.
- Finding Travel Memories: You can find your old trips using natural and descriptive language. Simply write, "where did I stay last time I went to New Delhi?" or "show me photos from my trip to Goa in 2022." Ask Photos will show the relevant shots by connecting multiple context without you having to manually search for those images.
- Finding Food Photos: Are you unable to remember what food you ordered at a restaurant? Try asking "what did I eat at the resort in Guwahati?" or you can ask broad questions like "show me all the desserts I had this year". This way, you can track your food memories with a quick search on Google Photos.
- Finding Niche Information: If you want to quickly find your car number or other niche information, you can ask "what is my car number" and Ask Photos will surface the information by scanning all the car images in your gallery.
- Finding Specific Shots: You can also enter short queries like "recent selfies" or "landscape photos" and Ask Photos does a great job bringing all those photos together.
- Finding Photos with Specific People: You can search for something like "last time I met my sister" or "photos of me and my brother at a restaurant". Since Google Photos knows face groups, it shows the result with incredibly accuracy.
How to Turn Off Ask Photos on Google Photos
You can choose to disable Ask Photos on Google Photos from within the app's settings. You can also choose to protect your privacy while using Gemini in Google Photos.
- Launch Google Photos, tap on your profile picture at the top right and select Photos settings.
- Now, navigate to Preferences > Gemini features in Photos.
- Here, simply turn off the Use Gemini in Photos toggle. This will competely disable the Ask Photos feature along with other Gemini-powered features in the Google Photos app.
- Alternatively, if you want to continue using Gemini in Google photos but more privately, you can turn off the Allow us to access your queries toggle. This will protect your privacy by preventing Google access to review your AI queries
And that is how you can use Ask Photos on Google Photos. It's genuinely very helpful and replaces the classic search that was available on Google Photos for many years. Google has even added support for multiple Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, and more. So, if you have not tried Ask Photos on your Google Photos yet, it's one of the best Gemini features on Android.
