@googlephotos looks like others noticed too and want it back!! Please bring it back. I need to be able to sort my photos (1/2)
— Nicole Nelson (@nico_623) July 22, 2017
The view by recent activity feature for albums in Google Photos has been pulled. A recent tweet inquiring about the missing functionality brought the development in focus. Another user, who usually helps people with Google Photos issues on Twitter, supported that the apps seems to have removed the feature.
We could also locate a thread on Reddit discussing the same. On our end, we can also confirm that the app does not give ‘view by recent activity’ option in albums on Android and iOS anymore.
Aaand, to top it all, a quick look over at official Photos forums further confirms this development, as a community specialist there responded to a similar user-query by saying:
To view the ‘View by recent activity’ on an album, please try logging in to photos.google.com. In case you are referring to the settings on the Google Photos app, I’d recommend submitting feature requests for Google Photos by sharing your feedback.