Samsung Gallery could soon get the Google Photos upgrade it needs

At the end of this month, Samsung Gallery will stop syncing with OneDrive. While your photos and videos will be safe, the end of this direct connection means you won't get a unified view of all your media stored in the cloud and on your phone. But Samsung is working on something even better for its Gallery app: a direct connection to Google Photos.

Gallery apps on many non-Samsung phones, like those from OnePlus, Oppo, and Xiaomi, already support direct syncing with Google Photos. This gives you a unified view of your entire photo library, whether your photos are stored on your phone or in Google Photos.

With this direct connection, you can view all photos and videos stored in Google Photos right from your phone’s Gallery app, even if they are not on your phone.

Since Samsung is ending OneDrive syncing in its Gallery app on September 30, it should roll out Google Photos support soon after. The feature could go live as part of One UI 9, which should land on several Galaxy devices this month.

A recent Gallery Cloud Sync update on the Galaxy App Store further hints at the direct connection to Google Photos. It also points to the integration going live sooner rather than later.

Your Google Photos library, right inside Samsung Gallery

If you already use Google Photos to back up photos and videos taken with your Samsung phone, this direct integration will not change how they are backed up.

In fact, it will improve the experience by integrating your entire Google Photos library with Samsung Gallery. This will save you from jumping between two apps to view your recent and older photos. Plus, you can directly see the available space in the linked Google account. The integration is also handy when switching devices, as you will immediately see all your old photos and videos on the new phone.

Do note that if you have thousands of photos in Google Photos, the initial sync can take a while to complete. And if you don't use Google Photos or are not comfortable with your entire Photos library appearing in Samsung Gallery, you can always turn off the direct connection.

If you currently rely on Samsung Gallery's OneDrive syncing, here's what you can do when the integration stops working on September 30.