I tried the new Gemini button in Google Photos - and classic search is officially history (2025)

Gemini integration is officially rolling out to Google Photos. The feature has been in beta testing for a while, but it is now available to most users.

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If you open your Photos app, there is a good chance you will see that the classic search button on the bottom right is now a new "Ask" button. Tap on that button, and it opens Gemini.

How Gemini works in Google Photos

An official Google support page explains that you can ask Gemini to search for your face or other faces you have saved in Photos, the location or date you took a photo, or a description of what is in the photo.

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Those options work much like the classic Google Photos search, but it is how you can further those questions that makes this feature unique.

Google offers several example prompts, including "What are some things we ate in Mexico City," "What is my driver's license number," and "What themes have we had for my kid's birthday parties?"

Trying Gemini in Google Photos

To test it out, I made a simple request first: "Show me recent selfies." Gemini showed a dozen selfies I had taken, and while they were recent -- all from 2025 -- they were not my most recent. It selected a range from different ones this year.

I followed up with a request of "Show me selfies I took in a museum." The initial results were not great. Gemini picked a few dozen selfies, including a few I had taken inside museums, but it also included parks with my kids, a selfie with the New York City skyline from a recent trip, and a family selfie from a recent wedding.

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Gemini quickly narrowed those results down, though, and explained, "Here are a few selfies you have taken in museums, including one at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City." Attempting the same search in classic mode yielded no results at all.

Asking "What did we eat in New York City?" returned not just a compilation of all my food photos, but a written list of items like "towering pastrami sandwiches," "street food (gnocchi and a sausage, egg, and cheese croissant)," and "lobster mac and cheese in a traditional dining room at Fraunces Tavern." It was pretty impressive that Gemini not only tracked down my food-related photos from my recent trip but was able to identify the foods each time.

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Gemini can also help you write something based on photos, such as if you are looking for a perfect social media caption. Google adds that Gemini cannot edit photos, add labels to photos, or create new albums.

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