Google Photos Gives Users More Control Over Shared Albums

Google has announced a change to its Google Photos app that gives users more control over shared albums and who can access them. The company says this new feature builds upon the direct sharing feature Google introduced back in December for individual videos and images. Similar functionality is being added for shared albums, though the old sharing method isn't going anywhere.

Google Photos enables users to share albums of videos and photos with other people; this involves copying a link and sharing it with others. Google is also adding the ability to share albums with other people through their Google accounts rather than through a link. This will be the default option henceforth, Google said on Tuesday.

With this change, Google Photos users will tap the Share button on an album, then they'll choose which Google users to send invites to. More than one person from the user's contacts can be chosen; each will directly receive the invite once it is sent.

For contacts who don't have a Google account, the option remains to copy the direct sharing link, which can be sent in a text message, email, or through similar methods. Google explains that this change ultimately gives users more control over who gets access to the shared album.

Google is rolling out the new feature this week, it said on its blog; if you're not seeing it yet, you will within the next few days. Google explains that users who share links can choose to turn off link sharing whenever they want, plus there's the ability to remove people from albums, which will remove any content they may have been allowed to share in it.