Google Photos Gets a New Feature That Lets Users Block a Person’s Face From Memories

Google Photos – the media manager on Android devices – is getting a new feature that lets users not just hide but block a person entirely from their media collection. As per the company, it can prove useful when users don't want to see a person featured in their Memories tab. While a similar feature was previously available in Google Photos, it only allowed users to hide them from certain sections of the app. The new feature is available for Android phones right away in the Google Photos app. 

Google Photos Block Feature

According to Google's new support page, a new Block option has been added alongside Show less. As the name suggests, it enables the user to block a person's face (say an ex-partner) from being featured in the memories carousel in Google Photos. While its functionality is similar to the show less option, the block feature is a more robust option.

Google Photos Now Has a Block Option for Hiding Faces

Google says if users choose the show less option, the selected person's face will not appear in memories but may still appear in group photos included in memories. On the other hand, the block option hides them from memories entirely, including group photos with others. Here's what you need to do if you wish to block a person from Google Photos:

1. Open Google Photos and tap on the profile icon at the top-right corner of the screen.
2. Select Google Photos Settings option, tap on Preferences and then Memories.
3. Below the Show less option, users will now see a new Blocked tab. Tap on Select faces and then choose the face you wish to block from being featured in the memories carousel.
4. Navigate back to the main Google Photos page and you will not see that person's face anymore.

Gadgets 360 staff members were able to verify the feature's availability in Google Photos for Android. However, at the time, it was not available on the iOS platform. While this feature can block a person's face, Google says it isn't perfect. Users can also choose to hide certain faces from their featured memories.