There really is an app for that.
From social media, to games, to apps that can track your sleep cycle, both the App Store and Google Play Store have just about everything you may need or want in your day-to-day life. The small rectangles in our pockets can carry an extraordinary amount of data, and various applications help us navigate that data in a way that no other generation has been able to do.
But out of the hundreds—no, thousands—of apps on these stores, which is the best? What is the number one most valuable app to have installed on your device?
In my opinion, it’s Google Photos.
Why do I think Google Photos is better than the rest? What makes this simplistic picture app the most important?
Not enough people take advantage of the amazing features Google Photos has to offer, even when it comes pre-installed on some new devices. Here are the reasons I think everyone should have this app installed on their phone, and what makes it so great to use:
- Google Photos can back up all photos at a high resolution (up to 16MP) at no cost to you.
- It can back up all videos at up to 1080p resolution.
- The amount of pictures and videos Google Photos can back up at this quality is unlimited, which means you don’t have to pay for any additional storage.
- Google Photos is available on both Android and iOS, so you can access your pictures on any of your devices.
- This app will automatically start to back up your pictures and video as soon as you connect it to wifi, or you can set it up to back them up as you take them. To do so, go to Settings > Back up and sync > turn on Use Cellular Data (I would only recommend this for people with unlimited data, as it may end up costing quite a bit, depending on how many photos you take).
To take advantage of these features, make sure your “upload size” setting in the app is set to, “High Quality.” If you want to retain a higher resolution and size, you can select “Original Quality,” but your photos will count against the 15GB of free storage that Google Drive allows. Once your 15GB is full, you will have to start paying for extra storage, or delete some of your photos to make room for new ones. And who wants to scroll through a year’s worth of cute dog photos to choose which ones to ax?
To use this application, you must also have a Gmail account. Google can then tie your photos on all your devices to you, giving you access to them on any device you sign in on.
Google Photos is a valuable tool for the casual cell phone photographer. With this app, you don’t have to choose between saving your vacation pictures and freeing up your storage. The Google Photos app gives any smartphone user, iPhone or Android, a way to save those memories without stressing about running out of space. The days of desperately mass-deleting old photos can end.