Photos uses the same free 15GB of storage shared with your Gmail and Google Drive.
Google Photos is the default picture backup system on most Android smartphones but is cross-platform and available on iPhones, iPads, Macs and Windows PCs, plus the web, too.
It costs from 79p a month to upgrade the space to 50GB, which should be enough for most people’s entire collection of photos and videos. If you use an iPhone provided by your employer you may not be able to or want to use a personal iCloud account on it. Photos from a camera can be manually uploaded via a computer, too. Windows PCs can back up photos to iCloud but Android devices cannot. Photos and videos can be automatically uploaded to iCloud and then viewed on other Apple devices or the web. It is quick and easy but you get only 5GB of space for free, which is typically only enough for a backup of the apps and some photos on one or two devices. It is where backups and documents of your iPhone or iPad are stored if you ever need to retrieve them.
If you have an iPhone, iCloud is Apple’s default backup and cloud storage system. If this is likely to be a problem, check the settings on the app and switch off the option to automatically upload shots via mobile data. Normal phone photos typically range from one to 5MB each but special high resolution ones can easily be 15MB or more. But be warned, taking lots of photos and backing them up while out and about can eat through your mobile data allowance if it is quite small. Photograph: Guy Bell/Rex/Shutterstock For regular snappersįour of the best cloud photo backup systems are made by the traditional tech firms, Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft, most of which have a free tier and options to pay should you need more storage.īackups from your phone happen over wifi or mobile data the moment you shoot a photo, which means your snaps are safe very soon after you’ve taken them. People take photos of the daffodils in St James’s Park, London, in March 2022. However, there are other options if you would rather store them on your phone or device, or curate which ones are saved, or make some public or even sell them. The best will use an app to automatically upload your photos from your phone to secure cloud storage.įrom there you can view them on apps and the web, meaning you can carry around access to every photo you have ever taken and relive memories at any time. It is extremely easy and there are many different options available from a range of companies, starting from the princely sum of free. Also, it can free up space on your phone so that you no longer have to continually delete things to make it work. More than just ensuring treasured memories are safe, backing up your photos makes them much more accessible from computers, tablets and even digital photo frames.
We’ve had a look at the best options for storage and printing, how much they cost and what you get for your money – and have a guide to how to take photos you will want to keep. Without proper and timely backups – or printed copies – a smashed, stolen or accidentally wiped phone could instantly wipe out snaps of your child’s first birthday, that once-in-a-lifetime trip or just that picture you love enough to make your wallpaper.