# Photo picking: what users see

This guide helps you understand your user's experience when picking media items.

Following the [standard Picker API flow](https://developers.google.com/photos/picker/guides/get-started-picker#the_picker_api_flow),
picking begins after your app displays the [`pickerUri`](https://developers.google.com/photos/picker/reference/rest/v1/sessions#PickingSession.FIELDS.picker_uri),
and while your app is polling for [`mediaItemsSet`](https://developers.google.com/photos/picker/reference/rest/v1/sessions#PickingSession.FIELDS.media_items_set) to return true.

To view any of these steps on your own device, check out our [sample app](https://developers.google.com/photos/picker/samples).

## Start the picking session

After successfully creating a session your app should display the `pickerUri` to
your users.

For web-based applications where clicking a link opens Google Photos in a new
browser tab or window, you can append `/autoclose` to the `pickerUri`. When
`/autoclose` is appended, this tab or window automatically closes after the
user finishes picking photos. This skips the [Done screen](https://developers.google.com/photos/picker/guides/picking-experience#done_screen) and
provides a smoother experience. This behavior is only recommended for
web flows, and not for experiences where users might scan a QR code to open
Google Photos on a different device.

- Display the `pickerUri` as both a QR code and a URL.
- Provide helpful text alongside the `pickerUri`. For example, "Scan this code to open Google Photos and select your items.".
- For devices with limited input capabilities (e.g., kiosks, tablets, smart TVs), check your hardware manufacture's recommendations on text size and QR code width.

![Screenshot of displaying a QR
code](https://developers.google.com/static/photos/images/picker-picking-pickeruri.png)

## Search and select photos

When a user accesses the `pickerUri`, they are taken to a photo selection page
within the Google Photos app.

This page will always display the most recent photos from your user's Google
Photos library. Albums, favorites, and other common photos categories are not
show directly. Users can search for photos using various criteria,
such as keywords, dates, locations, and album titles.

If your app utilizes albums, dates, or other common photos categories, help your
users by prompting them to search once they enter the Google Photos app.

For example, if your asking your users to share a specific album, you could
include the following text on the same page your users connect to Google Photos:
"Connect to Google Photos, then search for the album you want to share."

![Screenshot of searching for images and
videos](https://developers.google.com/static/photos/images/picker-picking-search.png)

After searching, the user can select one or more items from the results.

![Screenshot of searching for images and
videos](https://developers.google.com/static/photos/images/picker-picking-search-select.png)

## Done screen

![Screenshot of the done page after picking is
finished](https://developers.google.com/static/photos/images/picker-picking-done.png)

Once the user taps the "Done" button and completes picking, they will see
the "Done" screen, which ends the picking session and means the current
`pickerUri` will no longer work.

Note that if you have appended `/autoclose` to the `pickerUri`, this screen is
skipped, and instead the browser tab or window closes after picking is
complete.

To provide your users the option to select more photos, create a new picking
session and display the `pickerUri` again in your app.