Photos on Android Messages App

[Android Central Question]

I have the Android Messages app, and just got a new phone. I have my Google Photos set as my default gallery. When I'm sending a text and want to choose a picture to send, it doesn't automatically show the pictures in my Google Photos. I have to select the picture icon to the left, then select "Gallery", then hit the three bars on the left-hand corner next to "Recent", then select "photos" from that drop down to even get to my pictures. I have friends at work with this same app that don't have to go through any of this, their photos are just automatically there when they select the "+" to add photos/gifs/stickers/etc. Any ideas on how to get mine to automatically set up that way?