Google Photos may get a shared camera for events: a host invites friends, and everyone's shots land in one album. Google has not announced "Group Camera". Android Authority found it in the app's code and says it is in development, with no release date. It may change, or never ship.

At a glance

Android Authority found Group Camera in Google Photos 7.97, in a code teardown. A host would create a shared camera for an event and invite people, and everyone's photos and videos would land in one shared album. Google has announced no release date, price or device list.

What the leak shows

Android Authority says the host sets a date and invites friends, guests are notified when the camera starts, and all captures collect in one album. Its example is a birthday.

Android Authority reports these details:

  • The default window is eight hours, or a custom start and end, following the host's time zone.
  • You would open it from a camera shortcut on the Photos home screen, or from "+" then Group Camera.
  • The camera screen resembles Pixel Camera and looks rough, it says. After each shot a review screen offers "Add", and a checkbox skips the review.
  • An existing album can be converted, and the host can edit the schedule or switch the camera off from the album's edit screen.
  • A lock-screen shortcut appears in code only, and Android Authority could not turn it on.

Why it matters

Today, guests take photos, then someone has to ask for them. A shared camera flips that: pictures go into the album as they are taken. The likely trade-off, our inference from the dedicated camera screen, is that guests shoot inside Photos instead of their own camera app. The leak says nothing about storage or who can join.

What you can use today

Google's shared albums let the people you share with add their own photos. Google's blog says they work across Android and iOS.

On iPhone, Apple's Shared Albums let invited people add photos, videos and comments. The organizer's iCloud storage holds the content, unless the album is set to expire after 30 days, in which case it uses none.

Apple's Shared Photo Library is a standing library for the organizer and up to five other friends or family members.

Our call, untested

We have not tried any of these, and Group Camera has not launched. Do not pay for an event-photo app on the strength of this leak. Make a shared album before the party and invite your guests. If Group Camera ships, it would be worth a look.