As we shared in May, people create and consume photos and videos in many different ways, and we think it should be easier to do more with the photos people take, across more of the apps and devices we all use. That's why we created the Google Photos Library API: to give you the ability to build photo and video experiences in your products that are smarter, faster, and more helpful.

After a successful developer preview over the past few months, the Google Photos Library API is now generally available. If you want to build and test your own experience, you can visit our developer documentation to get started. You can also express your interest in joining the Google Photos partner program if you are planning a larger integration.

Here's a quick overview of the Google Photos Library API and what you can do:

Whether you're a mobile, web, or backend developer, you can use this REST API to utilize the best of Google Photos and help people connect, upload, and share from inside your app. We are also launching client libraries in multiple languages that will help you get started quicker.

Users have to authorize requests through the API, so they are always in the driver's seat. Here are a few things you can help your users do:

Easily find photos, based on what's in the photo when it was taken attributes like media format

Upload directly to their photo library or an album

Organize albums and add titles and locations

Use shared albums to easily transfer and collaborate

Putting machine learning to work in your app is simple too. You can use smart filters, like content categories, to narrow down or exclude certain types of photos and videos and make it easier for your users to find the ones they're looking for.

Thanks to everyone who provided feedback throughout our developer preview, your contributions helped make the API better. You can read our release notes to follow along with any new releases of our API. And, if you've been using the Picasa Web Albums API, here's a migration guide that will help you move to the Google Photos Library API.