Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR A Google Messages update will integrate your cloud photos and videos directly into the main media picker.
This is powered by a new Android feature that lets apps embed the system’s photo picker experience.
The change removes the extra tap needed to access your cloud library and improves security by no longer requiring broad gallery permissions.
Google Messages makes it easy to share photos and videos from your phone, but accessing your cloud library isn’t as seamless as it could be. Currently, tapping the gallery button opens a media picker showing your most recent locally stored images. To access your Google Photos library, you need to tap the “Folders” button — an extra, slightly inconvenient step. Fortunately, an upcoming Google Messages update will integrate your cloud photos and videos directly into the main media picker, removing that extra step entirely.
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Like many other apps, Google Messages uses its own custom media picker to let you select photos and videos. This is because a custom picker allows for tighter UI integration than Android’s system Photo Picker. For example, Google Messages shows the camera viewfinder and gallery side-by-side — a design that’s only possible with a custom picker. In contrast, Android’s Photo Picker launches as a separate screen on top of apps, which would feel disconnected from the Google Messages experience.
While Google’s custom media picker feels more integrated, it comes with significant limitations. For one, it can only access locally stored photos and videos, forcing you to tap an extra “Folders” button to open Android’s system Photo Picker and reach your Google Photos library.
This extra step is a minor inconvenience, but a bigger problem is security. Google’s custom picker requires broad access to your entire media gallery to function. In contrast, Android’s Photo Picker allows apps to access only the specific photos and videos you select, without needing invasive permissions. Despite these security and convenience drawbacks, developers prefer custom pickers because they believe the benefits of a tightly integrated UI outweigh the cons.
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