Google Photos now lets you set ‘Memories’ as live wallpaper for your phone

Google Photos has a new update that lets you set new live wallpapers from the “Memories” section. This will enable an auto-updating live wallpaper which will pick photos from your Google Photos Memories.

The new feature has been rolled out with Google Photos version 5.22, and it is available to download on the Google Play Store. This essentially adds a new Memories section under live wallpapers on Android smartphones. Selecting this will pull photos from your Google Photos Memories, and the carousel will keep updating on a regular basis.

Google uses machine learning to pick photos and videos from previous years for its Memories section. These photos and videos appear on top of the Google Photos app in an Instagram Stories-like interface. Just like Google picks photos for Memories, the live wallpapers will also be auto updated. There is an option to “Open Photos” before choosing Google Photos’ Memories but selecting this doesn’t offer any customisation options, XDA Developers noted.

This is a small update but it can be helpful for people who are bored of their current wallpaper collection. It’s also not entirely bad to see your memories as the first thing when you open your phone.

Another small update Google Photos recently rolled out was new collage designs. Your ‘Recent Highlights’ will now show up in new and colourful collage designs from the simple template Google Photos always shows.

The small changes come amid Google’s biggest decision of disabling free backup on Google Photos. Starting June 2021, all uploads on Google Photos will be counted towards your free 15GB free storage. Photos and videos uploaded till that time will still be available for all users.