Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google Photos has been working on a “My Week” feature that would allow users to share highlights of their week with invitees.
- The co-founder of the photo-sharing app Retro has pointed out the similarities between Google’s feature and its own app.
Back in January, Android Authority discovered a new feature the Google Photos team appeared to be working on called “My Week.” Just a few days ago, we managed to enable the feature, allowing us to give our readers an early look at how it might work. Now photo-sharing app Retro is pointing out similarities between its app and Google’s new feature.
Although it’s not live yet, our APK teardowns have told us My Week is a Google Photos feature that lets users share weekly memories with friends and family privately. It’s an invite-only feature, so the user can choose exactly who they want to share their pictures with. The point is to keep friends and family up-to-date with your life by automatically sending memories to them on a weekly basis.
As it turns out, this isn’t much different from what the Retro app does. And not only does the feature mimic the Retro app’s idea, but it appears that it also has a similar design to boot.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Retro co-founder and CTO Ryan Olson made note of the similarities by stating, “feel like I’ve seen this somewhere…,” which was accompanied by an emoji face with a monocle. Olsen also had a second post (above) showing a side-by-side comparison between Retro’s app and the My Week feature.
You know what they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But we imagine Retro isn’t too happy about a giant tech corporation ripping off its idea.
In a comment to Tech Crunch, Retro CEO Nathan Sharp told the outlet he isn’t worried yet and that Google’s product could change before it goes public. Additionally, Sharp said:
At first, when you see this, it does make you a little angry, because it seems like some things are lifted one to one. But … this isn’t what they’re shipping. They aren’t asking to be judged on what’s on Twitter today. So I have to kind of step back and say, this is probably a team in progress.
In the case that the feature doesn’t that much change before going public, Sharp states that he won’t underestimate Google’s potential to compete. Sharp also told the outlet that he thinks Retro users appreciate that his app has a specific purpose.
We have reached out to Google for comment on this story. We will update this article with new information if we get a response.
