Google Photos has been immediate answer to anyone looking for a basic photo and video storage in recent years. It's completely free for unlimited storage of high-quality photos and video, but unfortunately, that is all coming to an end on June 1.
On that date, the free Google Photos ride comes to an end
for everyone except for Google Pixel owners. Any new files added to Google
Photos, Drive or Gmail starting on June 1 will count against the 15GB free tier
and, after two years, will be deleted completely. Here's a look at what you can
do to ensure you don't lose any of your files, whether that means sticking with
Google or looking elsewhere.
Everything uploaded before June 1 is free
One critical reason to pay attention to this now, even
though it won't go into effect until June 1, is that anything you upload prior
to that date is in the clear. You can backup your entire photo and video
collection to Google Photos right up until May 30 and it will remain safely
stored there in high-resolution for free until the heat death of Google's
servers (or it changes its policy).
Even if you decide to stick with Google One as your backup
service of choice, you'll be better served by getting as much of your content
on there in advance as possible so it won't count against whatever storage tier
you decide to purchase.
Google Pixel exemption
If you own a Google Pixel, you don't have to do anything.
The Pixel 5 and below are all grandfathered into unlimited high-resolution
photo and video storage forever on those devices, but keep in mind that this
only applies to content uploaded from that device.
Google has already confirmed that it does not plan to extend
this offer to future Pixel devices, so the well will run dry for Pixel fans too
whenever they choose to upgrade. Google put an end to free unlimited
full-resolution Google Photos storage with the Pixel 4, but it's a bit
surprising that it isn't going to extend at least the high-resolution storage
as a perk for Pixels. Regardless, Pixel owners will get a bit more time to
think about this, but will eventually need to consider their options too.
If you love Google Photos and want to just stick with it,
the good news is that Google has reasonable pricing and you do get some added
bonuses as a Google One subscriber.
Starting at the base 100GB tier, you can share the storage
space with up to five other users. At the 200GB tier, you also get 3% back on
purchases from the Google Store, and this steps up to 10% at the 2TB and above
plans. 2TB plans also include a free unlimited VPN service for their Android
phone.
- 100GB for $1.99 a month or $19.99 per year
- 200GB for $2.99 a month or $29.99 per year
- 2TB for $9.99 a month or $99.99 per year
Obviously, this is the easiest choice if you are a happy
Google Photos subscriber at the moment. And with family sharing, this is also
going to be the most affordable option for a lot of users. However, if you want
out of Google Photos, here's how to stop it from backing up to the cloud and
we've even listed some alternative photo storage options.
How to stop backing up to Google Photos
If you choose to go with another service, you'll want to
make sure that you stop uploading to Google Photos to avoid using space you
might want for Drive and Gmail. It should also help you avoid persistent
notifications telling you to upgrade to a Google One subscription for more
storage. Fortunately, this is quite easy.
- Open Google Photos on your phone
- Tap on your avatar in the upper-right corner
- Select Photo settings
- Tap on Back up & sync
- Toggle the Backup & sync switch to off
That's it, you can still use Google Photos to view your
on-device photos, but it is no longer backing up to Google One.
For current Amazon Prime subscribers, Prime Photos is
probably going to be the best option as you are already paying for unlimited
full-resolution photo storage and probably didn't even know it. The big caveat
is that it only includes unlimited photo storage; video storage is capped at 5G
for the free plan.
If you want more video storage,e you'll need to upgrade to
one of the other storage plans:
- 100GB for $1.99/month or $19.99/year
- 1TB for $6.99/month or $59.99/year
- 2TB for $11.99/month or $119.98/year
If you add these plans to the cost of the Prime subscription, you are obviously going over the Google One pricing, so the math here is a bit dependent on you needing a Prime subscription for reasons other than photo storage alone. The other important thing to remember is that this is purely going to your video storage and that your photo storage as a Prime subscriber will not count toward this total.
With Amazon Prime Photos apps for mobile and desktop, you
can easily automate backups from your smartphone or laptop if you are looking
to store photos and video from a traditional camera as well.
Another photo storage option that you might already be
paying for is Microsoft 365. Each subscription comes with 1TB of OneDrive
storage for a personal account or 1TB per user for a family account. If you
have considered a Microsoft 365 account previously, but decided it was too
expensive, this could be the extra feature that pushes you over the top.
There aren't extra storage tiers to consider in this case, so it's simply a choice between the Personal plan for $6.99 a month or $69.99 per year or the Family plan for $9.99 a month or $99.99 per year.
Again, Microsoft offers excellent mobile and desktop apps
that will allow you to automate the backup of your photos and videos.
Apple iCloud
This is only an option for those with an iPhone as Apple
doesn't have an app for Android users to make use of iCloud. If you're an
iPhone user who was avoiding paying Apple for iCloud by using Google Photos
then the 5GB free tier remains practically useless, but the paid tiers are
quite reasonable.
- 50GB for 0.99 cents a month
- 200GB for $2.99 a month
- 2TB for $9.99 a month
While Apple doesn't offer a discount for paying yearly,
these rates are otherwise comparable to Google and Amazon's offerings. Just
like with Google One, you can also choose to share your storage with your
family on the 200GB and 2TB plans.
Photo and video storage in iCloud is at the original
high-resolution, so do be aware that if you are sharing with your entire family
or are extremely shutter happy, those files can add up pretty quickly. iCloud
storage offers much more than just photo storage with many Apple and
third-party apps relying on iCloud storage, meaning you have easy access to
everything across all of your Apple devices. And perhaps the best news of all
is that you won't get that annoying reminder that you don't have enough iCloud
storage to back up your phone.
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