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Users of Google Photos were pampered. As long as Google could marginally lower the quality without significantly altering the appearance of our memories, we were able to save as many pictures and movies as we want in the cloud service for years. Even better, Google treated everyone similarly, regardless of whether they used an iPhone or an Android phone.
All of that changed on June 1st when Google formally instituted a 15GB restriction on free picture storage. You may keep whatever you saved to Google Photos before June 1, 2021, for as long as you like. Anything you add after June 1st is subject to the new 15GB restriction.
The built-in Photos app on the iPhone has many of the same capabilities as Google Photos. You can search for things in the shot, even a particular person, and it syncs your images across all of your Apple devices. Better still, it does all of the sophisticated tasks on your smartphone while maintaining the privacy of your photos.
You should be aware that there isn’t an official Google function to move your collection to iCloud at the moment, if Google’s switcheroo has convinced you to switch to Apple’s iCloud Photos service. It will take a few days from the moment you request a full copy of your Google Photos library until you’ve successfully transferred everything to Apple’s servers, so you’ll have to do it yourself instead.
Note that Apple does not provide free picture storage. 5GB of free storage is included with every iCloud account; after that, you’ll need to purchase a storage plan, which costs $0.99 for 50GB and $9.99 for 2TB.
This is the simplest method for switching from Google Photos to iCloud Photos.
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For situations like these, Google Takeout is a useful tool.
Jason Cipriani/CNET screenshot
To download your photos without any hassle, use Google Takeout.
Using Google’s Takeout website is the fastest and most straightforward method to download your whole collection of Google Photos. You may use this tool to choose which personal information on Google’s servers you would want a copy of.
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CNET’s Brett Pearce
Go to takeaway.google.com and log in using your Google credentials. To uncheck every box next to the different categories, click Deselect All at the top of the lengthy list of data selections. After locating Google Photos by scrolling down, tick the box. Click the Next step button after scrolling to the bottom of the list.
Click Create export after selecting the file type and size you want Google to use to divide your picture collection.
After that, Google will provide the date on which the export will be generated. Takeout informed me that the export will start processing on June 4 after I submitted the request on June 2.
After the export is finished, you will get an email with a download link for your picture collection.
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Importing your complete library will take a few days, particularly if you have a large collection of images and movies.
CNET/Patrick Holland
You may import your photographs into iCloud photographs in two different methods.
You may transfer your images to Apple’s iCloud Photos service in a few different ways.
The Photos app is available to Mac users. You may utilize the iCloud website if you have a PC or choose not to use the Photos app on a Mac.
To import your photographs, use the photographs app.
Once your picture collection has been downloaded and the ZIP files have been opened, launch the Mac’s Photos program. Choose the folder or folders where your picture collection is stored after clicking File > Import in the menu bar. To import all new photos, click Review for Import.
The amount of your picture collection and the speed of your Mac will determine how long this procedure takes. I advise beginning the procedure before bed and letting it run overnight if your library is several gigabytes in size and your Mac is older.
If you have enabled it, your photos and videos will be posted to Apple’s iCloud Photos service after the import is complete. By selecting Photos from the menu bar and then Preferences, you can see whether you have it enabled. Next to iCloud Photos, check the box.
You may upload your images to iCloud.com.
The alternative is to upload your picture collection using Apple’s iCloud website. To begin, go to iCloud.com and use your Apple ID to log in. Next, click the Upload button at the top of the screen after selecting the Photos symbol. It resembles the iCloud symbol with the upward-pointing arrow.
Click Upload after selecting the pictures you want to save in iCloud. As an alternative, you may drag & drop the files into the window of your browser.
Depending on your internet connection and the quantity of images and videos you’re uploading, this procedure may take some time, much as with the Photos app. I recommend doing this at night and letting it run while you sleep if your library is large, your connection is poor, or both.
Check out our comparison of all the cloud storage providers if you’re still on the fence about moving to iCloud. You may use this approach to replace Dropbox with iCloud, which offers more than simply a picture storage service. You receive a really decent bargain when you join up for Apple One.