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These Android Photo Picker features could be good news for app devs, bad news for gallery apps
Oct 8, 2026 — 5:55 AM ET
- Google is working on a media editor for Android’s Photo Picker.
- Code found in Android 17 QPR2 Beta 5 gives us an idea of the features it could support.
- The media editor could let users flip, rotate, and crop images before sharing them with third-party apps.
The Android Photo Picker, which lets you select and share images and videos with third-party apps without granting them access to your gallery, could soon get a useful new feature. Back in August, we found early evidence that Google was working on a new media editor for the Photo Picker. Now, we are getting a clearer idea of what those features are and how they could work.
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We found several new strings related to the upcoming media editor while digging through Android 17 QPR2 Beta 5‘s code. Although the editor is not yet available in the Photo Picker UI, these strings give us an idea of the features it will support.
Based on the strings we found, the media editor will let users make basic edits directly in the Photo Picker. Users will be able to flip, rotate, or crop an image before sharing it with an app. While cropping an image, the editor will likely let users choose from 3:4, 4:3, square (1:1), or custom aspect ratios.
The cropping interface will also include buttons to cancel the crop, “Return to main edit menu,” or “Apply Crop.” The editor will also let users discard all edits and return to the preview.
Here are all the strings related to the media editor in Android 17 QPR2 Beta 5:
<string name="photopicker_edit_flip_label">Flip</string>
<string name="photopicker_edit_rotate_label">Rotate</string>
<string name="photopicker_edit_crop_label">Crop</string>
<string name="photopicker_edit_crop_cancel_button_description">Return to main edit menu</string>
<string name="photopicker_edit_cancel_button_description">Discard edits and return to preview</string>
<string name="photopicker_edit_crop_done_button_description">Apply crop</string>
<string name="photopicker_edit_aspect_ratio_3_4">3:4</string>
<string name="photopicker_edit_aspect_ratio_4_3">4:3</string>
<string name="photopicker_edit_aspect_ratio_custom">Custom</string>
<string name="photopicker_edit_aspect_ratio_square">Square</string>Adding basic editing functionality to the Android Photo Picker could be great for app developers. The photo picker already helps developers avoid creating a custom UI for picking photos. However, right now, if a user wants to crop or rotate an image before sharing it with a third-party app, they have to switch to a gallery app, make the edits, and then share the edited photo. If Google adds basic image-editing features directly in the Android Photo Picker, users wouldn’t have to switch to a gallery app just to make simple edits before sharing.
Finding strings related to the media editor suggests that Google is continuing its work on the tool. However, the lack of new UI elements suggests Google still has plenty of work to do. Fortunately, the Android Photo Picker can be updated through Google Play System Updates, so Google could roll out the feature as soon as it is ready.
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