Apparently Google Photos is in the process of incorporating some new optimizations for tablets: in the past few hours some screenshots of an unedited version of the image editing tool have been leaked with a much better layout and rational organization of buttons and commands. The image preview takes up most of the screen, while the controls are arranged in a window on the right. At the top you can switch between the various tabs – one for retouching, one for cropping, one for drawing, and so on.
Interestingly, this layout activates only when the tablet is in landscape orientation; in portrait, on the other hand, it remains exactly the same as that seen on a smartphone – although of course the elements are larger and the spacing between one and the other varies a bit. In both cases, however, there do not seem to be new commands and modes to discover: only their arrangement changes.
The source explains that the new layout is in fact already part of Google Photos, but for the moment it is hidden and cannot be activated by the common user. As it is easy to imagine, for now there is no information on possible public release timings – even only in the Beta channel. However, it is worth mentioning that tomorrow is Google I/O 2023, the day in which the launch of Mountain View’s first Android tablet, the Pixel Tablet, is expected; it is plausible that close to the announcement there will be updates for various members of the Google Apps suite.
For some time Google has finally decided to try again to enhance the tablet format a little into the Android ecosystem, after essentially neglecting it for years. The company has proposed some devices in collaboration with some third-party manufacturers (who remembers the mythical but too experimental Motorola Xoom, the champions of quality/price ASUS Nexus 7, the Nexus 10 created with Samsung and the refined but disappointing HTC Nexus 9?), but without too much conviction, and the same was seen in the software, essentially leaving the field free for Apple and its iPads.
