Jimmy Westenberg / Android Authority
TL;DR
- There are six new Material You-inspired Google Photos widgets to add to your home screen.
- Android 12 is not required, but Google Photos version 5.65 is.
- The blob widget is the best.
Android 12 has been available on recent Google Pixel phones for a few weeks. However, if you don’t own a recent Pixel device, there’s a good chance you haven’t experienced the wonders of Android 12, or the all-new look and feel Google is calling Material You. However, with a recent Google Photos update, you can inject a little Material You goodness to your homescreen.
Once your phone receives the update to Google Photos version 5.65 (check here), you’ll have six new widget shapes to add to your homescreen.
You can see the six new widget shapes in the first screenshot attached above. I’ll attempt to describe each and every widget shape in detail. There’s a blobby one, a wavy circle one, a normal circle one, a square one, a pill-shaped one, and a rectangular one. The blobby one is the best, clearly.
Also read: Everything you need to know about Android 12
To add the new widgets to your homescreen, long-press on an empty space on one of your home pages and scroll down to the Google Photos section. You’ll only see a tall rectangular option. Long-press the widget, place it in a free spot on your homescreen, and you’ll then be able to select one of the new widget shapes.
The widgets work just as expected. Google Photos will show you a featured photo. Tap on it, and you’ll be taken to the Google Photos app where you can see it in greater detail. Once you go back to your home screen, a new image will populate in the widget.
