What users hate. Clustered.

1- and 2-star reviews grouped into themes with verbatim examples. Each cluster is a wedge a competitor could exploit.

137 reviews·8 themes

Forced Full Access to Photos
Users are required to give full access to their entire photo library to use the app
23
reviews
- “Forced Full Access is Invasive — I used to use this app a lot for photo sharing, but I do not want to give FULL access to my ENTIRE photo library.”
- “Requires full access to photos — While most apps these days allow you to limit how much access it has to your personal files, Google Photos now does not function or show me any photos without full access to my phone.”
- “Well — This idiotic app demands full access to my pictures or you can’t use it.”
New Update Issues
Users are experiencing problems with the latest update, including layout changes and feature removals
30
reviews
- “New update sucks — The new update sucks! The magic eraser tool doesn’t work now.”
- “Latest update is a step backwards — I’ve been a Google Photos fanatic since the Pixel 1 came out and now pay annually for storage. I’ve always loved the app and specifically the organization and editing tools. But the latest update is a major step backwards for me.”
- “New layout view is awful — I hate the new layout view. There’s zero organization just a cluster of photos”
Storage and Syncing Issues
Users are experiencing problems with storage and syncing, including unexpected uploads and deletions
20
reviews
- “WILL DELETE OFF ICLOUD — If you try to delete them off of Google Photos, they will delete off of iCloud and there’s no way to restore them.”
- “TOO EXPENSIVE — You are asking me to pay for MORE storage absolutely not when there are free apps out there.”
- “Prolonged Google Photos Service Failure and Data Loss — After nearly 15 years of paying for Google Photos as my primary backup, my account became corrupted after simply updating my Google profile picture.”
App Crashing and Freezing
Users are experiencing crashes and freezes when using the app, including when viewing collections or editing photos
15
reviews
- “Freezes and forces all photo access — Firstly, if you want to upload ANY photos you have to give it access to your entire photo library, and then tries to back up everything by default.”
- “App crashes for iOS users when viewing collections — App freezes after multiple reinstalls only when selecting collections tab making the app unusable”
- “App Is Pretty Much Unusable — The app is absolutely awful now. Keeps freezing and crashing”
Magic Eraser and Editing Issues
Users are experiencing problems with the Magic Eraser tool and other editing features
10
reviews
- “Magic Eraser Doesn’t Work — I have tried all the fixes and it still won’t work.”
- “Newest edit update sucks — The new edit photo features are terrible! Takes forever to edit one photo, doesn’t work well when you try and it’s confusing as heck.”
- “Update Distorts Photos — Bring back the old version ~the Edit /Erase feature is terrible…quality and precision. Distorts photos.”
Layout and Organization Issues
Users are experiencing problems with the app's layout and organization, including the new grid view and lack of date separation
12
reviews
- “New layout is horrible — I used to love Google Photos, but the new update is horrible. The layout feels cluttered with random large photos, and it’s no longer clearly separated by dates”
- “Need the old layout back — The old layout, where you can see sections for each day, worked totally fine. Now I can’t find my photos because the dates are missing!”
- “Go back to old Layout! — Bruh why do you keep having updates but not changing the main issue? Go back to the old layout and separate the months!!”
AI and Gemini Integration Issues
Users are experiencing problems with the AI and Gemini integration, including poor search results and annoying animations
8
reviews
- “Bad App — Does not allow you to search without using Gemini.”
- “New AI Update Sucks — Before this last big update with AI I could use all of the tools on any of my photos, such as the Magic Eraser.”
- “New subject outline animation — The new animation that outlines the subject of any photo you look at makes it impossible to view photos without getting a headache.”
Privacy and Data Concerns
Users are experiencing concerns about their privacy and data, including the app's access to their photos and data loss
8
reviews
- “don’t use this if u care about privacy — this app is mining ur private photos to train their AI models, the app isn’t the product, you are!”
- “Predatory design — Automatically uploads all your photos. If you delete in app it deletes in iPhone.”
- “Prolonged Google Photos Service Failure and Data Loss — After nearly 15 years of paying for Google Photos as my primary backup, my account became corrupted after simply updating my Google profile picture.”

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