Exploring Android L: Rest in peace, Gallery
Another really interesting thing I’ve noticed in the new Android L developer preview is that the Gallery app is no longer around. Instead, it appears that Google trusts its Photo app to be far enough along in development to take over all of your device’s photo needs.
We’ve known for a while now that the Gallery app would be going away. The writing on the wall, so to speak, was when we first realized that the Gallery app was missing from the Google Play Edition Sony Z Ultra and the LG G Pad 8.3. Additionally, it was in the Android 4.4.1 update when Google+ Photos became integrated with the stock Android camera, instead of Gallery.
Since then, Google has been hard at work integrating all of the Gallery’s current functionality into the Photos app, including porting a bunch of awesome editing tools over from Snapseed.
The Photos app is certainly fine, with no major complaints from me. Even if users don’t have a Google+ profile connected to their devices, it can still display photos that are stored locally just fine. And this reduces some of the redundancy that we’ve all been complaining about.
What about you? Will you miss the Gallery app?
