Google is changing its Photos API and it's not good news for some digital photo frames.
There is a small saving grace, however – Google Photos slideshows will come to ambient displays as screensavers on more third-party devices, including digital photo frames.
One of the best features of the Google Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max is the fact that you can use them to display your favourite pictures, but they aren't the only digital photo frames around.
If that's the only feature you want, you'd probably be better off with a dedicated device from the likes of Aura or Cozyla. Both feature auto-syncing to automatically display photos added to a specific album on Google Photos, and they look great.
There's just one issue – that won't be the case for long.
How are digital photo frames changing?
Google is changing the way third-party apps, like Aura's, can access Google Photos libraries. The Google Photos API change was announced last September, but will come into effect at the end of this month. And while it is designed to make your photos more private, it's not great for digital photo frames.
With the Google Photos API change, there will be no integrated access to your entire library. Apps will be able to access photos or albums through the Google Photos Picker API, but that needs manual input from the user to "pick" each photo, as explained by The Verge.
In a interview with the site, the senior director of communications at Aura, Jenisse Curry revealed that the feature could no longer be offered as was: "We had a deeper integration with Google Photos that enabled direct access from within the Aura app and the ability to auto-sync a Google Photos album. That will go away because our app can no longer communicate with your cloud library,” she said.
A Google spokesperson then clarified: "We’re always looking for ways to update our APIs to improve user privacy, and we have APIs specifically designed for digital photo frames and a program to help our partners update their products."
It's not all bad news though – Google also recently announced Google Photos slideshows will come to ambient displays which will work like screensavers on third-party devices, like Smart TVs, tablets, fridges and digital photo frames.
The auto-syncing feature won't be replaced with the new option in a like-for-like way, but it's better than nothing. So, you shouldn't therefore think about ditching your digital photo frame just yet.
