Hadley Simmons / Android Authority
summary
- Google Photos is working on a “My Week” feature that will allow users to share highlights from their week with those invited.
- The co-founder of photo-sharing app Retro pointed out similarities between Google’s features and his own app.
return January, Android Authority It turns out that the Google Photos team is working on a new feature called “My Week.” A few days ago, we enabled this feature and let our readers Quick Look There’s been a lot of discussion about how it would work, and now photo-sharing app Retro is pointing out similarities between its app and Google’s new feature.
Although it hasn’t been released publicly yet, a teardown of the APK reveals that My Week is a Google Photos feature that lets users privately share their weekly memories with friends and family. It’s an invite-only feature, so users can choose exactly who they want to share their photos with. The idea is to keep friends and family up to date on what’s going on in your life by automatically sending out memories every week.
After all, this isn’t all that different from what the Retro app does, and the feature not only mimics the idea of the Retro app, but also seems similar in design.
in post On X (formerly Twitter), Retro co-founder and CTO Ryan Olson noted the similarities, writing, “This feels familiar…” along with an emoji of a face wearing a monocle. Olson also wrote: Second Post (Above) A side-by-side comparison of Retro’s app and the My Week feature.
As the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but we suspect Retro isn’t too happy about a tech giant ripping off their idea.
In the comments TechCrunchRetro CEO Nathan Sharp told the outlet that he’s not worried yet, and that Google’s product could change before it’s released.
At first, when I look at this, it’s a little infuriating because it seems like some things are being lifted from one to one. But this is not what they’re shipping. They don’t want to be judged by what’s going on at Twitter today. So I have to pause for a second and say this is probably a work in progress.
Sharp said he wouldn’t underestimate Google’s ability to compete if the feature doesn’t change too much before it’s released to the public. He also told the outlet that he thinks Retro users appreciate that his app has a specific purpose.
We’ve reached out to Google for comment on this matter, and will update this article with any new information if we hear back.
