How to Use Google Photos to Store All Your Photos
If you are using a smartphone, you probably know that the best way to store your photos is to use an online service. There are many photo-storing services available out there like Flickr, Photobucket, Google Photos, Microsoft’s OneDrive, and a couple of others. However, most of them offer you a limited storage and require a monthly subscription. Google Photos, on the other hand, is a service that allows you to store an unlimited amount of photos for free. Additionally, it is the most convenient for use and comes in an Android and IOS version too.
If you haven’t used it so far, stay with me for the rest of the article, and I will show you how to use Google Photos to store all your photos.
Configuring Google Photos
Google Photos is an easy-configurable service. You can access Google Photos from your Android and IOS devices, as well as from your browser. The process for configuring Google Photos through your computer is simple. You just need to open the Google Photos website and login with your Google account.
However, here we will focus on using this service from your Android device. So, for setting it up, you just need to download the Google Photos app from the Play Store. Here is the link if you haven’t preinstalled on your phone Google Photos.
When you first open the app, you can choose “High Quality” for uploading an unlimited amount of photos. The maximum resolution for stored photos is 16 megapixels. If you think that it is not enough, you also have an option “ Original Size.” It allows you to upload larger photos without any decrease in the resolution. However, this option will take up some of your Google account storage capacity, and Google recommends it only if you use DSLR camera.
Storing Your Photos
Storing your photos to Google Photos from your Android device is an automatic process. To make sure that it is turned on, you should go to the settings of the Google Photos app. Now open the very first section Back up & sync. If the toggle Back up & sync is turned on, your photos will be automatically uploaded to the cloud. If you scroll down, you will find a couple of settings like “Cellular data back up” and “When to back up.” Feel free to set them to your likings.
Browsing Your Photos
To browse your photos, just open the Google Photos and scroll down. You will notice that all the photos are organized in a list from most recent to oldest.
I must note that in this app Google did a great job with implementing a sophisticated search technology. You can type “kid” in the search bar, and you’ll see images that Google thinks contain kids. You can also search for different kinds of objects, landmarks, locations, and so on.
If you click on the search bar once, you will see a list of different people. Google sorts the similar faces and locations, making it easier for you to browse related photos. For those of you who like to organize your pictures in a traditional way, you have an Albums section. And also, there is the Assistant section, that will let you create and save animations and montages from your photos.
Sharing Your Photos
One thing that you will really like about Google photos is its excellent sharing feature. Sending an image to your friends is as simple as viewing it. You just need to click on the Share button and select one of the options.
With Google Photos you can share your pictures to Twitter, Google+ and Facebook. You can also click on the “Get Shareable Link” option, and you will get a direct link to the photo. Later, you can send that link to anyone via an email, message, or any other way. They don’t need to do any login to view the picture. After you send the photo, you can even manage the link in the “Shared Links” section.
Furthermore, Google Photos allows you to download your photos to offline storage. Now, it integrates into Google Drive, which makes it easier for you to download all the photos even to your PC.
Wrap Up
You know that using cloud based services is the best way to store your valuable moments. Google Photos is a perfect example how easy and convenient the storing experience should be. Feel free to try this service and share what you like and what you don’t about it. Also, if you use another cloud based service for storing photos, you can share your thoughts about it as well.
