Google Photos
Reddit take
AI summary of the Reddit excerpts below — not a quote
Google Photos is a popular choice for cloud backup and photo sharing, praised for its ease of use and cross-platform accessibility. While users value its ability to organize photos by date and share galleries via links, opinions are mixed regarding its synchronization logic and privacy. Some users find the service invasive or are frustrated by its two-way deletion behavior, where removing a photo from the cloud can also delete it from the local device.
Pros
- Easy sharing of photo galleries via links
- Automatic generation of low-resolution previews for fast viewing of large images
- Reliable organization by date taken
- Support for storing RAW files
- Seamless access across mobile, web, and desktop platforms
Cons
- Two-way sync deletes files from the device when deleted from the cloud
- Privacy concerns and perceived invasiveness
- Limited free storage (15GB shared with Gmail and Drive)
- Compression of images on certain storage tiers
Caveats
- Users must ensure 'Original quality' is selected to avoid potential loss of vibrancy or detail
- The 15GB free limit is shared across all Google services, which can fill up quickly
Best for
- Users who need a simple way to share albums with friends or family
- Photographers looking for a secondary backup for favorites and RAW files
- Android users seeking integrated cloud storage
Avoid if
- You want to manage cloud and local storage independently without automatic synchronization
- You are highly sensitive to data privacy and Google's ecosystem
This summary uses balanced time weighting with about a 6-month half-life. The evidence is older, with a median age of approximately 399 days, so confidence is medium as app features and storage policies may have evolved.
Sentiment
20 positive (43%) · 11 mixed (24%) · 15 negative (33%)
Trust + time weighted score: +3% · raw score 11%
What redditors said (10 of 46)
Google photos can work, its limited in function but it sorts by the date taken no matter what day you post at, you can also put the date into the title and create private albums shared with a link.
So like Google photos
Your Google photos - go to Google photos and go into Free Up Space on this device. It will upload your photos to the cloud and remove from your phone the ones it uploaded.
I've since had to move to a new phone that only uses the Google Photos app. I can't stand it and have been looking for alternatives, but the most common suggestions seem to have a lot of the same features I'd like to get rid of!
I really liked Google Photos when it was unlimited "High Quality" storage but when they took that away a few years ago I have just been meaning to move away since. ... Google just feels scummy to me as of late.
I think Google Photos is a better option as far as functionality than Apple Photos
Now, photo storage counts toward the total account limit that includes vital necessities like email storage (including attachments), so it is not worth pursuing. Fujifilm partnered with the wrong company here because pricing for storage is aimed at consumers who want to store a smartphone's worth of files at most, i.e. not people who use standalone cameras.
The one time I got stuff printed directly from photos it was really not good resolution.
I use Google photos for the gallery and they can download them from their end.l easily.
I tried to clean up space using Google Photos, but iOS does not let you select folders or use a proper bulk delete feature. Managing my own media felt like a battle.
Compare
Google Photos vs KOReaderGoogle Photos vs CalibreGoogle Photos vs Blip