Google Photos added a Memories widget on iOS last year. The software giant is finally bringing a similar widget to Android. If Google Photos is your preferred app for storing photos and videos, here’s how you can look back at your precious memories right from your phone’s home screen. We will explain how to use Google Photos Memories widget on Android and iOS in this article.

Google Photos Memories widget is widely available on iOS. On Android, however, the feature is getting a gradual rollout. The feature is live on my end with Google Photos version #5.52.0.387241369. If you are not seeing it yet, you might have to wait until Google makes the feature widely available. With that out of the way, here’s how you can use the Google Photos memories widget.

  • Add Google Photos Memories Widget to Home Screen on Android
  • Add Google Photos Memories Widget to Home Screen on iOS
  • Manage What You See in Google Photos Memories Widget
  • Hide Someone from Google Photos Memories Widget

Add Google Photos Memories Widget to Home Screen on Android

Note: We are using a Pixel 3 XL running Android 12 beta 3 for this tutorial. We also tried out the memories widget on a OnePlus Nord running Android 11, so you don’t need to be using Android 12 for this feature.

  1. When you tap on the memories widget, you will be taken to Google Photos to view the image. Once you have opened an image, the widget will refresh to show you a new image from your camera roll.

  2. Press and hold the home screen of your iPhone and tap on the ‘+’ icon that appears at the top-left corner of the screen to access the widget picker.

  3. You will now start seeing the memories from Google Photos right on your phone’s home screen.

Now, it is important to know that you can manage what appears in the Memories from your Google Photos account. To do that, follow the steps below:

  1. At the bottom, you will see an option to control the notifications. Here, you can choose to turn on or turn off notifications for memories from previous years, themed memories, and more.

There are times when you prefer not to get reminded of a specific person. While you could delete all those images, not everyone wants to do that. If you prefer saving old images but would rather not get reminded of someone, say your ex-partner or a pet, you can choose to hide them from Google Photos memories. Here’s how.