Options for Storing Your Digital Pics
We live in a world where we get to make choices about everything... schools for our kids, where to shop, what type of car to buy, internet & cell providers, where to invest our money... the list goes on and on! Well, storing digital pics comes with just as many options... Google Photos, iCloud, Dropbox, Shutterfly, Flickr and Amazon just to name a few.
If you're a Consumer Reports kind of guy, you've probably already done the research on the various cloud providers but if not you can check it out here.
Personally, I am a fan of Google Photos... probably because I used Google for EVERYTHING as a teacher and feel very comfortable with this platform. I also love that you can upload pics straight from Google Photos to many of the photo services I use regularly, such as Walgreens. Another huge benefit is Google Photos has offered Free Unlimited High-Quality Storage for the last 5 years!
This week, Google released an update stating that as of June 1, 2021 there will be a cap of 15 GB of free storage per user. This storage includes Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos.
Before you panic, you can check your storage use in Google by clicking here. Make sure you check each account if you have more than one. You may be surprised at how little storage you are actually using. You can use this info to start researching whether you want to stick with Google or check out another service.
If you decide to stay with Google, here are a few things you might want to know:
All pics/videos uploaded before June 1, 2021 will NOT count against your 15GB cap
Upgrading your storage above the 15G will start at $1.99/month
Google will send alerts when you begin to approach the cap
Google will offer a storage management tool that makes it easier to find and delete photos you don't want taking up space
If you haven't used your account for two years and do not respond to warnings that are sent, Google may delete your data
If you want to look into iCloud, here's some info. Scroll all the way to the bottom to see storage and pricing options. You'll notice they only allow for 5GB of free storage, compared to the 15GB Google offers. And of course, if you want to research other options you have 7 months before the Google update kicks in!
Regardless of what you decide, this is an important time to remember to always back-up your digital pics in at least TWO places! Backing up to the cloud is great insurance, but to ensure you always have access to your memories it's a good idea to backup to a hard drive too!
All the best,
Melissa