Confusion Regarding Google Photos

[AMD434]

Hi all! This past holiday season I switched from my lifelong iPhone use and upgraded to a Google Pixel 2.

I love it, however, there are a few things within Google Photos that are a bit confusing.

For starters, is there no main camera roll? For instance, on iOS, you had albums, but there was also just a general roll where every photo on the device went.

Second, how the heck do you save downloaded images to your photos? For example, if I find a wallpaper that I want to download and use, how do I save it? I can't seem to find a simple solution for this (i.e. iOS's long press gesture). I'm sure I'm just missing something obvious here, it would be ludacris for Andriod not to have this function.

Thanks!

 

[Golfdriver97]

Welcome to the forums.

When you open the Google photos app, you should see all of your photos that you have taken. This is essentially your camera roll. You can create and add photos to albums. Sometimes, Google offers suggested albums by linking photos together that are visually similar.

As far as adding a photo as a wallpaper, if you select an image (just tap it to see it in full size), you should see a 3 dot icon at the upper right. Click that, and you will see several options. One should be 'Use as'. Click that, and you will be given a few more options; Contacts, etc. Wallpaper should be an option.

 

[hybrisate]

For starters, is there no main camera roll? For instance, on iOS, you had albums, but there was also just a general roll where every photo on the device went.

Welcome to Android!

The Photos tab at the bottom of the app will only have photos from synced folders. You can see what folders are synced by tapping the three bar icon in the top-left corner (aka hamburger or sidebar menu) and selecting Device Folders. You'll see the most recent photo on top of each album. Albums that are synced will not have an icon; those that are not synced will show a cloud with a line through it (pictures in these albums will NOT show up in the main Photos tab of the app.)

Second, how the heck do you save downloaded images to your photos? For example, if I find a wallpaper that I want to download and use, how do I save it? I can't seem to find a simple solution for this (i.e. iOS's long press gesture). I'm sure I'm just missing something obvious here, it would be ludacris for Andriod not to have this function.

If you are seeing those photos in your Downloads app, tap the three dots in the top-right hand corner then Send file. From there, you can hit Upload to Photos. Then it will show up in your Photos app where you can tap the three dots again and hit Use as, then wallpaper.

Hope that helps!