Should I save my photos in iCloud or Google Photos? – This is one question we get asked most frequently, and rightly so! With cameras becoming better and better and fitting right into our pockets, how can we stop ourselves from clicking away night and day? And since these are all high-quality pictures, their number and the file size, both, create the biggest problem faced by the present generation — running out of storage space.
There’s a whole bunch of cloud storage options to choose from when it comes to storing your pictures. For Android users, Google Photos is absolutely the best. But for iPhone users, we also have the option of using iCloud, which is just as good, if not better, than Google Photos.
So is there any real difference between them? Is using either of them markedly better than the other? And how do you choose between both? Let’s find out.
Google Photos
Google Photos gives you unlimited space on its cloud service to store the pictures if you’d like to save them in HD format. For original photos, you get the 15GB Google Drive space that comes free with the account, over which you can upgrade as per your requirement.
By HD Format, Google means pictures up to 16 MP in camera sensor size (for your reference, iPhone 6s has a 12 MP camera). If the photos are of higher resolution, Google automatically compresses them, preserving the quality as close to the original as possible.
What I love about it
The best thing about Google Photos is the machine-learning algorithm behind the app. Google doesn’t just categorise your pictures according to date. Instead, it recognises locations, faces and objects. So, if you just type “dog” in the search bar, it will show you all the photos that have a dog in them. That’s because it knows what a dog looks like. Just like it knows a mountain, lake, bicycle, or food.
The search extends to people as well. You can click on a person, and Google’s insane facial recognition will pull up all the other pics of that person. Better still, if that person is in your Google+ Circles, you can just type in their name, and the results will astound you.
Google Photos is also a great option for people that work in the Google environment. Your photos show up neatly in a folder on Google Drive, so you have constant web access to all your photos whenever you need them. The best part? It works exactly the same way on both Android and iOS, so you never have to worry about compatibility issues.
So, if you’re looking for a place to store unlimited pictures in an orderly manner, with excellent accessibility features, for free of cost, Google Photos is your thing.
Apple iCloud
Apple iCloud works very well for iPhone users. You don’t have to worry about backing up your pictures or arranging them. Turn the auto-backup option on, and your iPhone keeps uploading them to the cloud. The pictures are visible on all the devices running with the same Apple ID. It works like magic. Just like Google Photos, iCloud also asks you for the format of pictures you want to save. The options are also same as the ones provided by Google; only Apple calls it “Optimised Storage” instead of “HD Storage.”
Unlike Google, however, you only get 5 GB of free space on your iCloud account, and you will have to pay if you run out of space. Which means that eventually, you will have to pay, because that 5 GB worth of space is a joke!
The 50 GB space costs you Rs. 65 per month which is not that much but compared to Google (Free Unlimited HD pictures), you just feel kinda let down.
What I love most about using iCloud is exactly what I love most about Apple itself – the ecosystem. iCloud photos work great if you are using a Mac and an iPhone. Both the services work seamless with each other, and you won’t find any boundary between the two.
Conclusion
If you’re a photo buff and take a lot of pictures, go to Google Photos. Just for the unlimited storage, if not for anything else. And don’t worry about the privacy. All your pictures are visible to just you and Google is not going to show you ads based on your pictures.
Choose iCloud if you’re also using a Mac or an iPad along with your iPhone and take a reasonable amount of pictures. You can shell out 65 bucks for extra storage. The price is worth the ease of use it gives you.
