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Credit: Jimmy Westenberg / Android Authority
- Google is ending free, unlimited storage of Photos effective June 1, 2021.
- He says the costs of maintaining the free service are too high.
- Pixel users can still download free photos in high quality after June.
Google Photos will no longer be the easy, free image backup service it once was. As The edge reports, Google has revealed that Photos will no longer offer free, unlimited “High Quality” (that is, slightly compressed) storage to all users as of June 1, 2021. The photos you take will count. within your Drive storage limit, and you’ll need to subscribe to Google One if you run out of space. Photos and videos uploaded before this date will not be affected.
Product manager David Lieb Explain the end of unlimited free storage if needed to “match the core cost” of Google Photos offering while recognizing the “core value” of online storage for years of snapshots. In other words, it became too expensive to offer unrestricted backups. The executive noted that users upload 28 billion photos and videos per week, and that there are already 4 trillion photos on Google’s servers.
There will be exceptions. Pixel phone users will still have unlimited high-quality downloads after the June 1 deadline. While this still limits original quality downloads, it does give you an incentive to buy (or stick with) a Google Phone if Photos storage is a big deal.
Read more: Google One against the competition
The company is also taking steps to control usage, although these aren’t always for the best. You’ll have new management tools to remove unwanted photos and keep your service free, and Google will now assess the usefulness of a tier of storage in terms of time rather than raw capacity. However, Google also warns that it “may delete” photos if you are inactive for two years or if you exceed your limit during that time. It’s not a guarantee that Google will delete treasured memories (it’ll notify you first), but you’ll probably want to closely monitor your usage.
Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms and Jamboard data will also count towards your Drive limit.
The move is not surprising given the volume of photos. Even so, it’s already sparking complaints that Google is trying to boost One subscriptions and create headaches for people who relied on free Photos storage as a safety net. It could also lead some users into the arms of competitors. Apple, for example, recently launched its own One subscriptions that combine iCloud storage with services like Apple Music and TV Plus. People who are not deeply invested in the Google ecosystem may decide that Apple One or other cloud storage offerings may represent better value.
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