Banish iCloud Storage Nagging with Google Photos
Eliminating iCloud Storage Limitations with Google Photos
iPhone users frequently encounter prompts from iCloud to increase their storage capacity. This is often directly attributable to the ever-growing size of their photo libraries.
Fortunately, a solution exists to bypass these storage limitations and avoid persistent upgrade requests. Utilizing Google Photos provides a pathway to effectively unlimited, and nag-free, photo storage.
Why Google Photos is a Viable Alternative
Google Photos offers a compelling alternative to iCloud for photo storage. It provides substantial storage space, and for many users, this space is functionally unlimited.
While Google has altered its storage policies, users who upload photos in "Storage saver" quality retain access to a generous amount of space. This allows for the preservation of a vast photo collection without incurring ongoing costs.
Setting Up Google Photos for iPhone
The process of transitioning your photos to Google Photos is straightforward. Begin by downloading and installing the Google Photos app from the App Store.
Once installed, open the application and sign in with your Google account. Ensure you understand the different upload settings available.
Configuring Backup Settings
Within the Google Photos app, navigate to the settings menu. Here, you can configure your backup preferences.
Select "Backup & sync" and choose your desired upload size. Opting for "Storage saver" quality will maximize your storage capacity.
Transferring Existing Photos
To transfer photos already stored on your iPhone, Google Photos offers a convenient backup feature.
Enable "Backup & sync" and the app will automatically begin uploading your existing photo library to Google Photos. This process may take some time depending on the size of your collection.
Benefits of Using Google Photos
- Cost-Effective: Avoid recurring iCloud storage fees.
- Cross-Platform Access: Access your photos from any device with an internet connection.
- Advanced Search: Google Photos utilizes powerful search capabilities, allowing you to quickly locate specific photos.
- Automatic Organization: Photos are automatically organized by date, location, and even the people and objects within them.
By leveraging Google Photos, iPhone users can effectively manage their photo storage needs and eliminate the constant pressure to upgrade their iCloud plan.
Understanding the Need for a Switch
Many iPhone users regularly capture numerous photos and utilize iCloud for backing up their devices, including photos, game data, and overall phone settings.
After a period of use, often within just a few months, a common issue arises: an error message similar to the one displayed in the featured image. Users may also encounter persistent notifications such as "Not Enough Storage" and warnings regarding the length of time since the last backup.
The most straightforward solution is to upgrade your iCloud storage plan to accommodate your increasing data needs. It's important to note that iCloud is a functional and cost-effective service, particularly for iOS users. Currently, 5GB of storage is provided free of charge, with options to expand to 50GB for $0.99 monthly, 200GB for $2.99, or 1TB for $9.99. For those invested in the Apple ecosystem, maintaining a fully integrated experience with iCloud can be a reasonable choice.
Related: Methods to Clear iCloud Storage Space
However, a significant proportion of users facing these storage alerts are primarily filling their iCloud capacity with photos. Why incur even a minimal monthly cost for photo storage when a free, unlimited alternative exists?
Google Photos: A Compelling Alternative
Google Photos, Google’s counterpart to iCloud Photos, presents an exceptionally attractive offer. If your photos are captured at resolutions below 16MP – a threshold even surpassed by the iPhone 6s’ maximum resolution – they do not contribute to your Google Drive storage quota.
Furthermore, Google Photos also backs up videos up to 1080p resolution, adding to its value.
Naturally, there's a trade-off. Google employs compression algorithms on your photos, even those under 16MP. While this might initially seem undesirable, practical comparisons reveal that the resulting image quality is virtually indistinguishable from the original. Professional photographers may prefer lossless storage, but for everyday smartphone photos, the difference is negligible.
If you are willing to transition from iCloud for photo storage and do not have strong objections to using Google’s services, leveraging Google Photos for unlimited free storage is a sensible option.
Making the Switch and Clearing iCloud
Let's explore the process of switching to Google Photos and removing the storage alerts from your iCloud account. First, it’s prudent to confirm that photos are indeed the primary cause of your iCloud storage issues.
Identifying Potential Storage Issues with Photos
We suggest exploring Google Photos even if you aren't currently facing iCloud storage limitations. The benefit of unlimited free photo storage should not be overlooked. However, it’s crucial to first verify whether photos are the primary cause of your storage consumption.
To begin, access your iOS device and navigate to the Settings app, then select iCloud.
Locate and tap the "Storage" option. This will display your current storage usage. As illustrated, photo backups were disabled in this instance. It was recognized that photos were rapidly filling iCloud storage, but the setting was adjusted after a significant amount of space had already been utilized.
Select "Storage" from the previous screen.
Within the Storage menu, you can view your total storage allocation, remaining available space, and options to either manage your existing storage or purchase additional capacity. Selecting "Buy More Storage" will allow you to upgrade your iCloud plan. However, our focus is on identifying storage usage, so we will choose "Manage Storage".
This screen details exactly how your storage is being used. As anticipated, photos are the dominant consumer of space. Specifically, 3.5GB out of a total 5GB is allocated to photos, with no storage used by backups. This represents a less than optimal scenario.
Now that we’ve confirmed photos are the source of the storage issue, we will return to the home screen. We will revisit the storage management menu later in this guide, but currently, we need to install and configure Google Photos.
Installing and Configuring Google Photos
The installation process for the Google Photos application mirrors that of typical iOS apps, and is particularly streamlined if you are already signed into a Google account on your iOS device. Begin by downloading the app and initiating the installation on your device. Upon launching the application, select "Get Started" from the introductory screen.
As illustrated in the image above, selecting "Get Started" will prompt you to grant Google Photos access to your photo library. This access is essential, as a photo backup service requires access to the photos it is intended to safeguard.
If you are not currently logged into a Google account on your iOS device, you will be asked to either create a new account or log in to an existing one. Following successful login (or if you are already logged in), you will encounter the initial configuration options. Here, you can confirm the account for use and toggle the backup and sync feature, which is enabled by default. You can also choose to utilize cellular data for backups when a Wi-Fi connection is unavailable.
It is generally advisable to disable the cellular data option until the initial backup is completed. Subsequently, enabling it for occasional photo backups while off Wi-Fi is acceptable, as backing up a few photos will not consume significant data. However, an initial backup of 10+ GB over a cellular connection is typically not recommended.
The subsequent screen presents a choice between "High quality" and "Original" upload sizes. The details provided under "High quality" clarify the point made earlier: your photos will be compressed, though unlimited storage is provided. It's important to note that this compression is often imperceptible for the vast majority of photographs.
After selecting your desired quality, you will be asked to permit notifications from the Google Photos assistant. This assistant proactively performs various intelligent functions. For instance, it can automatically create animations from burst photos, such as a sequence of our office dog greeting a friend. This setting controls notifications, not the assistant's functionality itself.
Upon completing these selections, you will be directed to the main Photos interface, which closely resembles the familiar Camera Roll. A few final configuration adjustments remain; these can be accessed by tapping the three-bar menu icon located in the upper left corner.
From the slide-out menu, select "Settings," as shown above.
Within the Settings menu, you can modify various parameters, including the backup account, toggling the generation of photo collages and animations by the Google Photos assistant, enabling or disabling face grouping, displaying photos from Google Drive within the app, and removing geolocation data.
From a privacy perspective, the facial recognition and geolocation settings may be of particular interest. You can disable the "Group similar faces" feature to prevent Google Photos from automatically organizing photos by facial recognition. Furthermore, you can choose to remove geolocation data when sharing photos, ensuring that location information is not included when posting to social media, for example.
Removing Photos From iCloud Storage
Having established a functional Google Photos system, the next step involves clearing photos from your iCloud account.
Related: The Importance of True Backups – Why Simply Moving Photos to an External Drive Isn't Enough
Prior to initiating this process, two preparatory actions are recommended. Firstly, create a direct backup of your photos from your device to a suitable local storage solution, such as your desktop computer or a home server. While Google Photo backups offer excellent quality, they aren't precise, bit-for-bit duplicates; cloud storage is valuable, but robust local backups are paramount.
If you are satisfied with the original copies residing on your iPhone and near-original files on Google servers, a local backup can be bypassed. However, we advise against this, as local storage is inexpensive and you might require the fully uncompressed photo in the future.
Secondly, verify the completion of your Google Photo backup. Until photos are present in at least two locations – your phone and Google's servers – avoid deleting the iCloud versions. The backup status can be checked by navigating to Menu Button -> Settings -> Assistant (illustrated above).
Confirmation of photo uploads is possible through the Assistant panel within the application, and by visiting photos.google.com while logged into your Google account to ensure they are current and fully uploaded.
Once backups are completed to your satisfaction and Google Photos is confirmed as current, you can proceed with removing photos from iCloud.
The setting for clearing iCloud photo storage is found by navigating to Settings -> iCloud -> Storage -> Manage Storage, then selecting "iCloud Photo Library", mirroring the earlier tutorial steps.
With confidence in your backups, select "Disable & Delete" to begin the removal process. Photos aren't immediately erased from iCloud servers; a 30-day window exists to access and download them via the web interface, or to revert the deletion through the settings menu.
This concludes the process! More time will likely be spent uploading photos to Google Photos than configuring the settings, ultimately providing unlimited photo storage at no cost.
Do you have a specific question regarding mobile devices, digital photography, or their intersection? Send an email to ask@howtogeek.com, and we will endeavor to provide an answer.