Google+ Photos could replace Android's Gallery app

Google+ Photos could replace Android's Gallery app
Not so benevolent now, are you Android KitKat

Some technological soothsayers have been reading the Android tealeaves and say that signs point to the brutal demise of the Gallery app.

The future-gazers think that Google will axe Gallery in favour of Google+'s Photos, which gives you more control over your images across various devices.

There's no evidence of this in the launch version of KitKat, but it could happen in future updates (like, say, Android 4.5), based on a couple of clues: leaked early builds of the OS did away with Gallery, for example.

Also getting rumourmongers hot under the collar is the fact that Google separated the camera and gallery APKs for the first time on Android 4.4, making it easier to ditch the Gallery part and keep camera alive.

What's more, the Gallery icon was snubbed in the KitKat upgrade: other app icons were given high-resolution pictograms but Gallery was not.

Replacing Gallery with Photos could come in handy, allowing a Photostream style back-up of your device with images automatically sent to Google+. And Google has precedence here: SMS messages on Android are now auto-synced to your Google+ Hangouts.

This is pure speculation for now, but it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see Gallery go the way of the dodo in a later KitKat update. RIP.

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.