A little over a yr ago , I save about a very wacky leverage that I made . I signalise up for a 2 TB Google One plan , even though I was already paying for a 2 TB iCloud plan .
My intent was simple . I like having all of my images in Apple Photos since I on a regular basis use an iPhone , but I also wanted a reliable place to access all of my pictures when I use an Android phone . As such , I took it upon myself to back up and organize all my pictures across Google Photos and Apple Photos simultaneously .
That ’s what I ’ve been doing since October 2023 . However , tight - forward to December 2024 , and my experiment is over . No , I ’m not going back to Apple Photos . Instead , I ’m apply up on Apple Photos and moving to Google Photos as my chief cloud photo app . It ’s not the outcome I look , and this is how I got here .
I flew too close to the cloud photo sun
A few things went into this decision . The first was pull in that managing and maintaining two swarm photograph libraries is a purple pain in the fanny .
It was fine for the first few calendar month . When taking pictures on my iPhone , all I had to do was launch the Google Photos app to have image stake up to my Google Photos account . When I postulate to take picture from my Google Photos library and add them to Apple Photos ( aka , any painting I require with my Android speech sound ) , I opened the Google Photos app on my iPhone , select all the images , and keep them to my gimmick . or else , I could also hop-skip on my computing machine and do it that way .
It was spare piece of work , but it was proceed just fine . Every few weeks or so , I ’d look at my Google Photos and Apple Photos libraries side by side , guarantee they were both up to particular date , and go on with my solar day .
But this was only sustainable for so long .
I went on alotof trips this yr , which mean I ’ve been taking alotof pictures — mainly on Android speech sound I ’ve been testing and reviewing . On two of my most recent trip this fall / wintertime — to New Delhi and a sail to the Bahamas — I tallied over 500 photos .
In theory , spare all your retention across two library is great .
The last thing I want to do on holiday is set aside time to download and upload picture from Google Photos to Apple Photos ( and frailty versa ) . And by the metre I get home and recall about how many pictures I need to transfer , the thought process becomes too daunting , so I push it off . And then tug it off . Again and again , until I probably involve to set aside an intact afternoon to get my two libraries up to mirror symmetry .
In theory , relieve all your memory across two library is great . But in pattern , especially if you ’re try on to do so with an Android speech sound and an iPhone , it ’s a time - eat labor that ’s only for the most consecrated mortal .
Apple Photos is moving in the wrong direction
The dual cloud picture life was n’t a good tantrum for me . But what caused me to select Google Photos as my new , exclusive home rather than returning to Apple Photos as I ’d been using it before ? A large part of it has to do withthe bragging Photos app redesign introduced with iOS 18this class .
Apple completely redesign its Photos app as part of the iOS 18 update . At first , I thought it expect perfectly fine — it even seemed to be an improvement over the old design . But after using it day by day for the last few months , I ’ve grown quite frustrated with it .
Apple ’s decision to get rid of the navigation bar and shove everything on a single Thomas Nelson Page — while bold and laudable — has proven an aggravating user experience . Even after months of trying to adjust to the Modern excogitation , it still feels littered and unintuitive . Google Photos ’ app intent ofPhotos , Collections , and Search tabsmakes more gumption , and I find itmucheasier to navigate .
But it ’s not just icky app figure that ’s turned me off from Apple Photos . I ’ve also been let down with Apple Photos ’ irksome feeler to meaningful new tools . Even with the big push button of adding Apple Intelligence to the Apple Photos experience , I still find oneself that Google does a better job here .
Google Photos is systematically proficient at surface old photos / memory for me to search back on , especially withthe 2024 year - in - review feature of speech that was lately add . Google Photos is also importantly better at auto - creating photo album . Its redaction tools are more rich and robust , and the ability to order photo Holy Scripture / print / sail directly from the app remains a staple feature that Apple seems to have no purpose of replicating .
Google Photos ’ current feature article arrange is one I already apprise more , and it ’s ameliorate at a much more rapid stride than Apple Photos ’ . Just this month , Google quietly roll out a helpful prick forseeing which albums mental image are in . A newQuick Edit featurewas recently discovered , too . These are n’t massive things on their own , but they ’re little soupcon that make Google Photos a sound platform , and they ’re add much more oft and on a regular basis compared to Apple ’s more measured approach to its photos app .
Google Photos is the better fit for me
I do n’t think Apple Photos is a bad cloud photo religious service . If you only use an iPhone and subsist deep in Apple ’s ecosystem , it ’s by far the wanton path to store your photo depository library .
However , after using both Apple Photos and Google Photos on a regular basis for the last several months , it ’s unmistakable that Google ’s service is the well set for me and my lifestyle . It ’s the dewy-eyed alternative when hoodwink multiple phone with different operating syatems ; the app is easier to use , and the useable ( and incoming ) features are more appealing .
If Apple Photos work better for you — bully ! Keep on keeping on with it . But Google Photos is the swarm photo app I ’ll be focusing on head into 2025 , and I ’m quite count frontwards to it .
