After facing significant backlash from users, Google will add a toggle to disable the Gemini-powered Ask Photos search feature in Google Photos. The company initially pushed ahead with the AI-enhanced search experience despite widespread complaints about its slower performance and less accurate results compared to the traditional search system.

The rollout of Ask Photos has been plagued with issues since its beta launch in 2024. Users found the new natural language search to be much slower than the original system, and the photo selection algorithm produced more errors. The negative feedback was so overwhelming that Google had to pause the full rollout in summer 2025 to make improvements, though the feature remains problematic.

This reversal marks a rare concession from Google in its AI-first strategy. The original Google Photos search was revolutionary when it launched, allowing users to simply search for objects, people, or places in their photos without manual tagging. By adding a toggle to restore the classic experience, Google acknowledges that not all AI enhancements improve user experience, particularly when they compromise the speed and reliability that made the original feature successful.