- Nov 20, 2009
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Actually I just realized that Google replaced the Gallery app with the Photos app. My original Nexus 7 that I bought in 2012 had an app pre-installed called Gallery. The update removed the Gallery app and installed the Photos app.I think you got it all wrong. "Photos" is "Gallery" for Google+. If you don't have (and don't want) Google+, then you don't need "Photos".
So, it isn't a change in the Photos app I need to be complaining about, and which was requiring a Google+ account at the time. I was able to access the images on the tablet via the Downloads folder app (under Settings), but then something strange took place.
I decided to do a factory reset hoping to undo the system upgrade and recover the Gallery app. No deal. Like Apple, you can never go home. But then something really strange occurred. The contents of the Download folder emptied (expected), but the email content in the Gmail app remained--even though I was not signed into any Google/Gmail account.
Worse was that after the factory reset it was aware of what Google account the device was registered with in 2012, prompted me to sign in using it (or creating another) and continued to leave per-existing email from pre-reset accessible to anyone.
So, lessons I learned: Never update something that is working for you; Never trust an Android factory reset to remove personal information.
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