Google has ended the struggle of Google Photos app users with an annoying software glitch that caused edited photos to "disappear" when attempting to share them via other Android applications. With the release of update number 7.97, users can now share their edited works seamlessly without facing the issue of files not appearing in social media applications.
Details of the Glitch and the Fix
Users were facing a frustrating situation; after finishing editing a photo within Google Photos, and when attempting to select it from within applications such as WhatsApp, Telegram, or even Google Messages and Gemini, the photo would appear as if it did not exist or would leave a blank space in the Image Picker. Although the photo appeared normally within the Google Photos gallery, it was "invisible" to other applications.
Google has confirmed the resolution of this issue in version 7.97, after Artem Russakovskii, the founder of the APKMirror website, reported the problem and tested the update to ensure its effectiveness in restoring the visibility of edited photos.
Why Were the Photos Disappearing?
According to technical reports, it is not a matter of actually deleting the photos, but rather how the Android system handles non-destructive edits. This feature allows the user to make changes while preserving the original photo without modifying its base file. It appears that the glitch was related to the local media URI indexing mechanism after making edits, which made other applications unable to find the correct path to the edited photo, sometimes requiring a full device restart to update the index.
Context of Recent Updates
This fix comes at a time when the Google Photos app has faced other technical challenges; users reported last month a glitch that made the "Share," "Edit," "Add to," and "Trash" buttons unresponsive after editing photos. Although Google released version 7.94 to address that glitch, some reports indicated that the problem persisted for some users, putting pressure on the development team to ensure the stability of the app's core functions related to media management and sharing.