Google Photos for Android has rolled out a trio of small updates today, led by a new shimmer setting. The shimmer appears as an outline around people or objects in your photos that you can take action on, like creating a sticker. It remains enabled by default, but you can now go to Photos view from the three-dot overflow menu or Settings > Preferences for a new on/off Show shimmer toggle.
Material 3 Expressive redesign of Settings
Meanwhile, we are seeing a Material 3 Expressive redesign of Settings. It makes full use of containers on the main page, Backup, and Preferences to better distinguish line items. Other pages like Notifications, Sharing, Apps & devices, and Privacy remain on the previous design for a piecemeal approach. This fragmented rollout is typical for Google apps, as seen in the recent Google Maps update that fixed a traffic bug. Google Photos joins other services in gradually adopting the new design language.
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Quick camera button for AI templates
The final update today lets you quickly take a new picture when using Remix, Photo to video, or other AI templates. Instead of having to select a photo from your library, there is a large camera floating action button (FAB) that launches the device camera. This is meant to be a quick and temporary input, like a simple photo or a funny face, that saves you from having to exit Google Photos. This feature echoes the AI shortcuts in other Google apps, such as Google Messages, which recently ended QR code access for its web version.
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Both changes are rolling out with Google Photos version 7.85 on Android. The update may take time to reach all users. To disable shimmer, navigate to Settings > Preferences and toggle off Show shimmer. The new camera FAB appears automatically in AI workflows. Google continues to refine user experience with small but meaningful improvements, as also demonstrated by the recent Firebase Analytics event tracking updates for apps.
For more on Material Design, refer to the official Wikipedia page. These updates make Google Photos more versatile and intuitive, catering to users who want greater control over visual effects and faster camera access during creative editing.
Source: https://9to5google.com/2026/07/28/google-photos-shimmer-setting
