Google rolls out a chat feature in Google Photos — use it before it’s axed

Google has a notorious habit of launching a new messaging app now and then. The lineup includes – both active and inactive – names such as Google Talk, Hangouts, All, Duo, SMS Messenger, and RCS-based Chat app. Now, it’s launching a messaging function in one of the unlikeliest places – Google Photos.

You heard it right. You’ll be able to send your photos and videos through a chat interface in the app.

Google said it was always possible to share photos through links or albums, but it wanted to make the experience of sharing one-off photos easier:

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You’ve always been able to share individual photos through the app by creating an album for a single photo and sharing the link. But we’ve heard from some of you that this could be a simpler experience, so now when you share one-off photos and videos, you’ll have the option to add them to an ongoing, private conversation in the app.

While it may seem an intuitive and useful feature at first, a lot of folks use photos or links from Google photos to share it on other platforms such as Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, or Twitter. In those cases, it’s always better for someone to get the link and download the photo to their library. Plus, if you’re sharing multiple photos, creating a shared album is a superior option than sharing them in a chat window.

Google has a habit of killing chat apps including Google Talk and YouTube Chat (yes, that existed). So we don’t know if this service will last the test of time. You better use it without it gets killed.

The feature is rolling out on Android, iOS, and web next week.