Google is getting ready to launch a new feature for its Google Photos app. It is designed to help people keep track of their clothes without needing to open a drawer.
The feature, expected to arrive later this year, works by looking at the photos you have already stored in Google Photos. It will scan those pictures to find the shirts, pants, shoes, and jewelry that you wear. Then, it builds a sort of online catalog of all those items. You will see small pictures of each piece, sorted into groups like tops and bottoms.
Once your clothes are cataloged, you can start putting together outfits on your phone. The app will let you combine different tops and bottoms to see how they look together. You can save your favorite outfit ideas or send them to a friend. There is also a preview tool that can show you what an outfit might look like on your own body, similar to a feature you might find on a shopping website.
But there are some things it cannot do. If you never wore a piece of clothing in any of your photos, the app will not know you own it. And if you got rid of an old shirt years ago but still have pictures of yourself wearing it, the tool will think you still have that shirt.
You will have to wait a few more months to try it. People with Android phones will get it first, while iPhone users will have to wait a little longer for the iOS version to come out.