Google Photos could let you retouch your 2026 Recap

Spotify popularized the yearly recap concept all the way back in 2013, giving users a clear bird’s-eye view of the music they listened to throughout the year. Drawing inspiration, a wave of other companies began joining the trend in and after 2019, though it wouldn’t be until 2024 that our favorite gallery app joined in. Google Photos has since been offering a yearly recap, and there’s reason to believe that an enhanced recap is on the way for 2026.

For reference, last year’s Google Photos Recap gave us the option to edit memories directly via CapCut, complete with the option to share them. This time around, Google appears to be working on more granular editing controls for your Recap.

We spotted evidence supporting the development in version 7.96.0.993165104 of the Google Photos app, with several newly added code strings. For the most part, the experience will maintain a familiar look, but it’ll be a lot more hands-on. You’ll likely have the ability to edit the photos and music used, including the option to add or remove individual photos. This means you’ll no longer be stuck with the images Google chooses for your Photos Recap, but that very act also makes the process feel less like something that has been curated for you in the first place.

A part of the appeal of these year-end recaps, where usage or listening metrics are not the main driving factor, is seeing what an app has picked out for you based on your activity. Being able to pick and choose photos spoils some of that surprise. That said, the ability to pick and choose photos might not be as aggressive as it sounds.

Likely, Google won’t give you the option to browse through your entire gallery to add images. Instead, it might give you the option to replace a photo with other similar photos from the same day or event. This could let you swap out a photo where your eyes were closed with a similar photo from that same day. This would give you more control over the Recap, make it more shareable, all while preserving the idea that it has been curated for you.

Similarly, you’ll likely also have the option to customize background music. Strings found within the app point to a music picker option that might include labels for the currently selected track, its artist, and duration. There’s also an option to “change the music.”

The strings don’t give us more information about music choice, but they do highlight two guardrails. Photos will prevent the same photo from being used twice with an “already used in your Recap” alert. Additionally, only images that have been backed up to Google Photos can be used when replacing pics. Otherwise, your Recap might return with a “This photo isn’t backed up yet” prompt.

We still don’t know whether or not Google will move forward with these customization changes for this year’s Recap. Even if it does, there’s the possibility that the changes might not look or function exactly as described here.