As the photo collection on your smartphone grows, so does the worry that you might lose all those memories. Google Photos jumps into that turmoil, because it lets you upload unlimited photos in a high resolution for free. Google analyzes the images and adds keywords itself. So you no longer have to manually back up your snapshots to the cloud, organize them and divide them into albums.
Tip 01: Upload
Google Photos is available on Android, iOS and through your browser. All you need is a Google account. When you visit the website for the first time, you will see a blank page. Via the button upload you can select your locally stored photos and send them to the server. On the computer, Google proposes to install a tool that from now on makes an online backup of all photos that end up on your computer. If Google doesn't do that, you can simply download this desktop uploader. After you've logged in, you indicate from which sources and folders Google should automatically transfer the files. If the folder with photos you want to sync is not in the list, you can add it with the button Choose folder.
Unlimited
Google Photos gets better every month, but know that you're also sacrificing some of your privacy. Google can extract a lot of information from your images and use this information for advertising purposes. Google Photos offers unlimited storage if the photos are smaller than 16 megapixels and video recordings are smaller than 1080 pixels. If the image material is larger, Google will reduce it itself. You can decide to upload the images in their original format, but then they count towards the allotted 15 GB of online storage that Google shares with Gmail and Google Drive.
Don't let everyone enjoy your holiday and only share your album with specific people Tip 02: Albums
Once all your photos have been uploaded to the cloud, you can organize them into albums. In the web app, go to Albums and click New album. You will then see an overview of all the photos that are in Google Photos. Choose the images you want to bundle in the album, click To make and give the new album a name. Click the check mark in the top left to save the album. To give the album a cover photo, click on the three dots in the top right and then on Set album cover. A thumbnail view of the photos in your album will appear and you can check the photo you want to use as the cover.
Tip 03: Shared album
If you want to let the home front enjoy your holiday from your holiday address, but you don't want to do that 'en plein public', you can also share your newly created album. Click the icon at the top right of your album To share. In the window that appears, enter the name or email address of the person you want to share photos with. The invitee will receive a message with the link to the shared album. As an administrator, you can also indicate per person whether or not they can edit the album. In a shared album, anyone with access can immediately see what the latest photos are and which photos were recently added.
Without adding a single tag yourself, objects, locations, animals and situations are recognized Tip 04: Car tagging
One of the greatest strengths of Google Photos is auto-tagging. Without you having added a single tag yourself, the application independently recognizes objects, locations, animals and situations. That becomes clear when you Albums clicks. Google has already created groups of its own, such as Places, Stuff, Videos and collages. For example, open the group Stuff, then you will even see that Google has created all subgroups. For example, we even have a group Ranch. However, we can't remember ever being on a ranch until we open the group… And indeed, we once rode horses on a farm. You can also use that auto-tagging in searches, even with somewhat unusual search terms like tuxedo, church or shopping.
No facial recognition
It seems strange that Google Photos recognizes your dog and cat, but not your wife and children. The bummer is the European privacy regulations. As a result, facial recognition that is active in America has been disabled in all European countries. To activate this feature, you have to pretend that you are opening the app from the US once. This can be done via a VPN app, for example TunnelBear. This software is available for iOS, Android, Mac and Windows. With TunnelBear you have access to 1 GB per month. One drawback: you must first remove the Google Photos app from your phone, then activate the America location in TunnelBear and then upload the photos again.
