There’s a new Google Photos update and it adds a handy time-saving feature

A helpful little update has just rolled out to the Google Photos app on Android, and it should save you a bit of time when you’re browsing through videos.

Now you can watch thumbnail previews of your videos on Google Photos, rather than just seeing an image. The autoplay feature will show the video from the start without audio; we expect this feature to work similarly to when you’re scrolling through YouTube.

The update, part of the Google Photos 4.20 package, seems like a helpful time saver when you’re scrolling to find a particular video clip.

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Google is also working on more extensive software for its mobile operating system, Android Q, with plenty of tweaks in store. The biggest new feature is Dark Theme, an option which gives the interface a black-and-grey colour scheme that’s easier on the eyes than a bright white screen. You’ll now also be able to navigate through the UI with gestures, which replace buttons completely instead of the half-way house introduced with Android Pie. The new Bubbles feature will let users interact with messaging apps without opening them (similarly to Facebook Messenger Chat Heads).

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Google’s main rival is also revamping its software later this year. iOS 13 will shortly be arriving on iPhones with a great set of new software tricks up its own sleeve and like Android, the popular Dark Mode option will make it to Apple smartphones too. Much greater customisation with be introduced for Memojis, and (far more usefully) Apple Maps will receive a massive overhaul, making it a true rival to the far more popular Google Maps app.

So as you can see, there are going to be quite a few new software gimmicks to adjust to over the next few months whether you’ve got an Android or Apple smartphone, but this Google Photos tweak certainly sounds like a useful aid to speedy scrolling.