Khamosh Pathak/Android Authority
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TL;DR
- A strange bug in Google Images caused images to go dark or turn almost black when users zoomed in on them.
- The complaints spanned different phones and browsers, suggesting that the issue was not limited to Chrome or Android.
- Google confirmed that the problem had been resolved, although it did not explain its cause.
Enlarging an image should bring details into focus, not send them into the shadows. But for some Google Photos users, the simple pinch to zoom recently led to a special, unexpected effect: The closer they looked, the less they could see. Fortunately, Google has now turned the lights back on, confirming that the strange image blurring glitch has been fixed.
The official confirmation came in A Reddit repliedThe GoogleHelpCommunity account said it forwarded the comments to the Google team, which resolved the issue.
We appreciate the feedback, and have forwarded this issue to our team who have resolved this issue.
Strange behavior appeared in Reddit Complaints in late October. Instead of enlarging the image normally, Google Images covers it in darkness, sometimes leaving it almost completely black. Zoom out again, and the image comes back as if nothing had happened. A video of the issue shows specifically the following: A brightly lit image of the Control Tower at the Circuit of the Americas becomes significantly dimmed when the user zooms in, then brightens again when the preview returns to its normal size.
Naturally, this made searching for small details a somewhat meaningless exercise. Some users have even reported not being able to zoom in at all, although they can still zoom out.
This wasn’t just Chrome throwing a tantrum. Reports have appeared across Google Pixel and Samsung phones, with complaints also mentioned for other browsers, including Firefox and Safari. This indicates something is wrong with the Google Photos interface, not any specific phone or browser.
While users were confused about the power outage, a few of them found ways to escape. Opening images directly in a new tab or switching to another image search engine avoids the issue for some. Others reported that normal zoom had indeed returned.
Google didn’t explain what caused the blackout or when the fix was rolled out. However, anyone who searches for the minute details should finally be able to see the bigger picture again.
