Google Photos lets you relive a day through your Maps timeline

Since 2015, Google has offered a timeline feature through Maps that allows you to retrace where you were on a specific day in the past. Despite coming out at around the same time, Google Photos is only now starting to take advantage of that functionality. With the latest version of app, you’ll find a new way to see all the photos you took on a given day.

You can access the feature, which was spotted by Android Police, by tapping on the Search icon and then the “Your Map” icon located near the top of the interface — this is also a good opportunity to get acquainted with the app’s new three-tab design. When you first visit this part of Photos for the first time, a pop-up window will prompt you to visit a support page that details how Google built your location timeline. The company notes a photo may include geolocation data if your phone or camera saved that information when you snapped it, or if you manually tagged a photo through the app. If an image isn’t geotagged, the location may have been estimated by Google based on any pictured landmarks.

When you zoom in on the map, you may also see a blue line that retraces the route you took on a given day. Tapping the route brings up a settings interface where you can disable the feature. You can also do that through the three-dots menu icon at the top right of the interface.

Given that photos you take with your phone typically have geolocation data attached, it’s surprising it took Google so long to build out a feature like this. But now that it’s here, the feature is a nifty way to relive a past trip, particularly at a time when most of us can’t even leave home to explore our own city.