Microsoft Teases Updated Photos App for Windows 11

The teases continue: Now Microsoft’s Panos Panay is teasing an updated version of the Photos app for Windows 11.

“Pumped to share another Windows 11 first look with you,” Mr. Panay’s tweet reads, “the beautifully redesigned Photos app is coming soon to Windows Insiders.”

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So, “redesigned” is an interesting word. As was the case with the previous Panay tease, for Paint, it appears that the Photos app is mostly just getting a fresh coat of paint. But there are some minor differences, too. When a photo is opened with the app, a row of thumbnails appears at the bottom of the window. And the tools in the Edit experience have been reorganized a bit. Nothing major, but at least Microsoft is paying more attention to this app.

It’s not clear when we’ll see the new Photos app in a prerelease build, but Microsoft typically issues new builds on Thursday. And tomorrow is Thursday.

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Conversation 21 comments

  • codymesh

    08 September, 2021 - 11:48 am

    <p>The issue with this app is it’s terrible performance. But yeah it could do with an improved UI as well.</p><p><br></p><p>Also in the age of cloud photo management, the only way people will take photo management in this app seriously is if Microsoft made a Photos app on mobile too. Users using OneDrive for photo backups would love to see it.</p>

    • csteinblock

      09 September, 2021 - 9:07 am

      <p>Yes! I would love this to be tied to OneDrive where all my photos are. Not tied to a single machine</p>

  • ourmaninny

    08 September, 2021 - 12:32 pm

    <p>Performance isn’t the only issue. The Photos app never had the functionality of the old Windows Live Photo Gallery app. Talking mainly about navigation around folders and tagging. There’s nothing intuitive about Photos, the app honestly just falls on its face.</p>

    • djross95

      Premium Member
      08 September, 2021 - 12:53 pm

      <p>What do most people do with their computers? Mail, calendar, photos, videos and music. The bundled Microsoft apps for all of these things are truly dreadful, and don’t hold a candle to equivalent apps from Google or Apple. There’s really no excuse for it, given the resources Microsoft could bring to bear–if they wanted to. But they don’t (sadly). </p>

      • vladimir

        Premium Member
        08 September, 2021 - 8:04 pm

        <p>I agree, and I find it really amazing how Microsoft swings between a wish to attract consumers and “screw consumers, we target businesses”. Due to this attitude all consumers solutions are half baked and significantly inferior to the competition. It’s very frustrating that they can’t make a clear choice. I guess consumers did </p>

    • miomir

      09 September, 2021 - 3:12 am

      <p>Completely agree. How can Microsoft remove so much functionality from Windows Live Photo Gallery and introduce Photos and hope that people will be happy is really beyond me. Facial recognition, friendly "translation" of GPS coordinates to the actual place names and other things are missing from Photos and they should bring them back.</p>

  • djross95

    Premium Member
    08 September, 2021 - 12:34 pm

    <p>For a supposedly big update, changes announced thus far to the Windows 11 inbox apps (Mail and Calendar, Paint, Photos, etc.) are pretty small beer. Hardly worth getting "pumped" about, unless they’re really holding back on the full list of changes. I’d like to think that they were, but somehow I doubt it. </p>

    • IanYates82

      Premium Member
      08 September, 2021 - 4:35 pm

      <p>I find it almost laughable how the leader of a multi-billion dollar business (the windows &amp; surface divisions) is spruiking such minor stuff as a lick of paint on some inbox apps. Once you’re pumped about even these trivial things it’s hard to find more adjectives to indicate a level of excitement for actually great new stuff. </p><p>If they ever improve the mail app I suspect he’ll have to say his head has exploded</p>

  • rickeveleigh

    Premium Member
    08 September, 2021 - 12:46 pm

    <p>Thumbnails in Explorer don’t work for me in Win 11 so might have to use this app more anyway. (Didn’t use it at all before.)</p>

  • superwindows88

    08 September, 2021 - 1:18 pm

    <p>Pumped to hear that the Mail app has been totally neglected </p>

    • Sir_Timbit

      09 September, 2021 - 1:21 pm

      <p>Yup, I can’t get my parents to move past Windows Live Mail for that very reason. The Mail app in Windows 8 was abysmal and years later, the Win10 Mail app isn’t really an improvement. But I’m sure it’ll have rounded corners or whatever.</p>

  • bettyblue

    08 September, 2021 - 3:03 pm

    <p>When I tried to go back to Windows, I really really tried to make the Photos app work for me as a replacement for Mac Photos app. It was a disaster. It is OK with local photos on the hard drive. Once you add OneDrive into the mix, which is basically a huge selling point, the stability and speed of the app takes a drastic nose dive.</p><p><br></p><p>I was OK with having to open the OneDrive app on my iPhone to allow photos to Sync to OneDrive and then Sync to my Windows PC’s. But the app was just so unstable. If you google it there are so many hits to the stability issues. The suggestions of "resetting it" or removing it and re-installing from the Windows store do work for a short time but then you go to open it and it can just hang….white blank screen. Or you double click on a thumbnail to open it and the picture either sits and thumbnail resolution for a min or 2 then clears up or you have to close it and open it again to get the proper resolution.</p><p><br></p><p>This is the kind of stuff that Apple nails and Microsoft just flounders with…year after year. This is what consumers, not geeks care about and its the reason the Apple ecosystem is so much better.</p>

    • mryves707

      08 September, 2021 - 5:42 pm

      <p>You nailed it!!</p>

  • proftheory

    Premium Member
    08 September, 2021 - 3:49 pm

    <p>I use 3rd party application IrfanView since version 3.30.</p><p><br></p>

    • spacein_vader

      Premium Member
      09 September, 2021 - 11:47 am

      <p>Irfanview for me as well, this doesn’t look likely to change that. </p>

  • jimchamplin

    Premium Member
    08 September, 2021 - 4:35 pm

    <p>I still haven’t gotten the newest version of Alarms.</p>

    • anoldamigauser

      Premium Member
      08 September, 2021 - 5:25 pm

      <p>It wasn’t ready in time.</p>

    • ids

      Premium Member
      09 September, 2021 - 6:27 am

      <p>No me. Its turning out a sham…</p>

  • ghostrider

    09 September, 2021 - 2:49 am

    <p>Microsoft’s internal Windows apps are usually barebones with minimal functionality – just enough for the basics. They’ve always done this so they leave the door open for 3rd parties to charge for more premium options, or even their own replacements that they can charge for – classic move that they’ve done for years. Remember, nothing is done for the benefit of the user – it’s all about the money.</p>

    • ron f

      10 September, 2021 - 10:49 am

      <p>True, and this worked well when they had 90% something of the marketshare. However, smartphones are the main personal computing device to a large proportion of Windows users. Microsoft Photos is rather weak compared to either Google and Apple’s counterpart apps and, thus, users have no reason to think Windows can take care of their personal lives. The basic apps will have to evolve, else Windows will be restricted to the work tasks.</p>

  • rm

    09 September, 2021 - 7:13 am

    <p>Now for Windows Media Player . . . Please!</p>

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