Adamya Sharma / Android Authority
Google introduced Ask Photos in 2024 to let users type search queries in natural-language questions instead of just keywords. The Ask button quickly replaced the traditional search experience in Google Photos, promising a smarter, Gemini-powered tool that would let users dig through their library using context-aware AI, saving precious time spent scrolling through search results.
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As it turns out, many Google Photos users prefer the old in-app search experience over Ask Photos. Over on Reddit, a growing number of users say that the classic search bar in Google Photos works much better than the Gemini-powered Ask button.
One frustrated user said, “I take a lot of photos. I have over 50k photos and videos on my phone. I like taking photos of birds. I used to be able to search ‘kookaburra,’ and a kookaburra would show up… Now nothing comes up at all. So instead, I ‘ask’ for birds… It shows me 6 photos. I have over 400 photos of birds…”
Others share the sentiment, saying Google’s implementation of the new Ask feature didn’t quite live up to their expectations. Instead of surfacing everything that matches a term, Ask Photos seems to return a small, curated set of results, which doesn’t always serve the purpose of the search. The good news is that it’s very, very easy to bring up the old search bar in Google Photos. Here’s how.
How to get rid of Ask and bring back the classic Google Photos search experience?
Yes, you can turn off Ask Photos by accessing a hidden toggle in Google Photos settings.
- Open Google Photos
- Tap your profile picture
- Go to Photos settings
- Open Preferences
- Tap Gemini features in Photos
- Turn them off
But here’s the part most people probably don’t know. There’s an even easier way to get to the old search interface without disabling Gemini features in Google Photos. There’s a shortcut that instantly switches you back to the classic Google Photos search. Just double-tap the “Ask” button. That’s it!
When you double-tap Ask, the Gemini interface disappears, and you get the old keyword-based search bar back, the one that actually shows the people and pets carousel. No menus. No digging through settings. Just two taps.
It’s a tiny UI trick, but if Ask Photos has been driving you crazy, it’s a lifesaver.
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