You'll soon be able to chat with friends and family on Google Photos.

Over the next week, Google will add a new "private conservation" option to its photo album app.

Currently, when you choose to share an image on Google Photos, you can do so via email or text, or create an album and share a link to it. "But we've heard from some of you that this could be a simpler experience," Google product manager Janvi Shah wrote in a Tuesday blog post.

With the new chat feature, you can quickly share one-off images with friends, which will appear in a private conversation. "This feature isn't designed to replace the chat apps you already use, but we do hope it improves sharing memories with your friends and family in Google Photos," Shah said.

"This gives you one place to find the moments you've shared with your friends and family and keep the conversation going," according to Shah.

You can like photos and videos in the chat, and save them to your own gallery.

The change hints that the company may be thinking about turning Google Photos into more of a social media application, an area in which Google has struggled. Google+ is no more, and the company's chat messaging services have struggled to resonate with consumers.

This comes after Facebook released a new tool that allows people to take photos that have been uploaded to the social network and transfer them to another service, such as Google Photos.

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