Google Photos appears to be randomly breaking for some users on iOS 16.3.1, with users advised to wait before upgrading.
Apple released iOS 16.3.1 Monday and users almost immediately began reporting issues with Google Photos. First spotted by 9to5Mac, Twitter quickly filled with comments by impacted users.
While not everyone is affected, users are advised to hold off upgrading iOS until Apple or Google come up with a fix.
Apple has launched a service to help users transfer a copy of their photos and videos from iCloud Photos to Google Photos.
iCloud Photos and Google Photos are two of the biggest photo storage services, each the default storage mechanism for their respective mobile operating systems. With users switching back and forth between devices, the ability to move data and photos is a vital service.
Apple has now added the ability to transfer photos to its rivalâs service, although not without limits.
Some contentâincluding shared albums, smart albums, photo stream content, live photos, some metadata, and photos and videos stored in other folders or locationsâis not transferred at all.
There are also limits to the size of albums. Because Google limits albums to 20,000 photos, any iCloud albums larger than 20,000 will still be imported, but only 20,000 of the albumâs photos will be placed in the corresponding Google album.
The entire process can take anywhere from three to seven days, during which Apple verifies the request is valid.
In an embarrassing glitch, Googleâs servers flagged its own apps as out-of-date because…they are.
Apple is requiring app updates to include a privacy label, clearly indicating what data is collected and connected to the user. Facebook drew intense criticism when it updated its apps and disclosed just how much data it collected and tracked. Meanwhile, Google has not updated the bulk of its apps in months, with many believing itâs trying to avoid the flack Facebook experienced. The company has claimed thatâs not the case, but the evidence would suggest otherwise.
The companyâs apps are now so out-of-date that Googleâs own servers started informing people and suggesting they upgrade to a new version. Thereâs just one minor issue â there are no newer versions.
First spotted by Techmeme editor Spencer Dailey, Gmail, Google Photos and Google Maps all popped up a notification informing users they needed to upgrade (demonstrated in his video below). The issue appears to have been a server-side glitch, as users are no longer receiving the error even though the apps havenât been updated. Google likely made a server-side change to disable the notification.
Whatever the case, the notification is an embarrassment for Google and continues to undermine its claim that it is not trying to avoid Appleâs privacy labels. The company needs to update its apps immediately, providing clarity and transparency about what data it does and does not collect.
Google has announced it will no longer offer free unlimited Google Photos storage, reversing a policy that has existed since 2015.
Google Photos is one of the most popular photo storage services. According to Google, âmore than 4 trillion photos are stored in Google Photos, and every week 28 billion new photos and videos are uploaded.â Google Photos tightly integrates with the companyâs other services, and uses AI to organize photos and clips. One of the biggest selling points of the service, however, was its free unlimited storage.
âStarting June 1, 2021, any new photos and videos you upload will count toward the free 15 GB of storage that comes with every Google Account or the additional storage youâve purchased as a Google One member,â writes Shimrit Ben-Yair, Vice President, Google Photos. âYour Google Account storage is shared across Drive, Gmail and Photos. This change also allows us to keep pace with the growing demand for storage. And, as always, we uphold our commitment to not use information in Google Photos for advertising purposes. We know this is a big shift and may come as a surprise, so we wanted to let you know well in advance and give you resources to make this easier.â
Kudos to Google for making the change impact new photos, as opposed to retroactively applying the change to existing photos. Still, the change reduces some of the servicesâ appeal.
Google has admitted it accidentally sent videos from its Google Takeout archive service to the wrong users, according to 9to5Google.
Google Takeout is a service that lets users download all their data to migrate to another service, or merely to use as a backup. According to the report, however, Google accidentally downloaded and saved some usersâ videos to the wrong archives, essentially sending them to complete strangers.
Google provided 9to5Google with the following statement:
âWe are notifying people about a bug that may have affected users who used Google Takeout to export their Google Photos content between November 21 and November 25. These users may have received either an incomplete archive, or videosânot photosâthat were not theirs. We fixed the underlying issue and have conducted an in-depth analysis to help prevent this from ever happening again. We are very sorry this happened.â
The company asks users who were impacted to delete their previous export and request another one.
Google Photos has proven quite popular since Google dropped the Google+ element and created it as a standalone app. Much of the cool factor was already there as the Google+ incarnation. This includes things like “auto-awesome,” which automatically enhance photos in different ways, and instant upload.
Now, Google Photos is getting smarter albums.
“Starting today, after an event or trip, Google Photos will suggest a new album for you, curated with just your best shots,” explains product manager Francois de Halleux. “Itâll also add maps to show how far you traveled and location pins to remember where you wentâbecause it’s not always easy to recall the late-night diner you hit on your road trip, or which campsite you pitched the tent in when arriving after dark.”
“You can add text captions to the album to describe the view from the small hill huge mountain you climbed, and turn on collaboration to let others add their own photos,” he adds. “Or if you want to create one yourself, any existing album can now be customized with maps, location pins, and text. VoilĂ : You have a beautiful album ready to share.”
The new albums are rolling out on Android, iOS, and the web starting today.
Image via Google
Google announced on Friday that it will be retiring Picasa over the coming months as it commits its focus to Google Photos. Perhaps the only thing surprising about this is that it hasn’t already happened.
“We believe we can create a much better experience by focusing on one service that provides more functionality and works across mobile and desktop, rather than divide our efforts across two different products,” says Head of Google Photos Anil Sabharwal. “We know for many of you, a great deal of care has gone into managing your photos and videos using Picasaâincluding the hours youâve invested and the most precious moments youâve trusted us with. So we will take some time in order to do this right and provide you with options and easy ways to access your content. Weâve outlined below some of the changes you can expect.”
“If you have photos or videos in a Picasa Web Album today, the easiest way to still access, modify and share most of that content is to log in to Google Photos, and all your photos and videos will already be there. Using Google Photos, you can continue to upload and organize your memories, as well as enjoy other great benefits like better ways to search and share your images,” Sabharwal adds. “However, for those of you who donât want to use Google Photos or who still want to be able to view specific content, such as tags, captions or comments, we will be creating a new place for you to access your Picasa Web Albums data. That way, you will still be able to view, download, or delete your Picasa Web Albums, you just wonât be able to create, organize or edit albums (you would now do this in Google Photos).”
The changes will go into effect on May 1. Picasa Web Albums can be used in the meantime.
On March 15, the Picasa desktop app will no longer be supported.
On May 1, Google will roll out changes to the Picasa Web Albums Data API and no longer support Flash, community search, mutation operations other than uploads, or tags, comments, or contacts. More on the API changes here.
Image via Google
This isn’t a shocker â we knew this was coming eventually. But Google has just set a kill date for Google+ Photos.
Google will begin to shut down the photo feature inside its struggling social network on August 1st. The death will happen first on Android and then soon after on the web and iOS.
Google unveiled its new Google Photos app at its I/) conference in May â which simply takes all the best part of Google+ Photos and strips the “plus” out. Since then, we knew Google+ Photos weren’t long for this world.
Google says you should start making the switch now.
“If youâre still using Google+ Photos, now is a great time to make the switch. You may have seen a prompt in Google+ Photos on Android with a link to download the new Google Photos. Donât worry, all your photos and videos will still be saved and available after you switch to the new, stand-alone Google Photos app. With the new app youâll still be able to backup, edit, and share your photos and videos, with unlimited storage, automatic organization, and more.”
Photos were always one of the best parts of Google+, but Google is doing what it can to turn Plus into something useful. Google says it wants Plus to be about connecting people with shared interests through its various communities â and photos just aren’t a part of this new direction.
And for those who just love Google’s photo editing and organizational tools, Google Photos takes the annoying Google+ aspect out of the picture. Let’s frame this as a win-win.
Image via Google+
At Google I/O on Thursday, Google unveiled its new Google Photos app, which removes what little friction its old one may have had (by untying it from Google+) and giving users unlimited storage to store a “lifetime” of photos and videos.
As with the existing app, photos are automatically backed up and synced.
“And when we say a lifetime of memories, we really mean it,” says head of Google Photos Anil Sabharwal. “With Google Photos, you can now backup and store unlimited, high-quality photos and videos, for free. We maintain the original resolution up to 16MP for photos, and 1080p high-definition for videos, and store compressed versions of the photos and videos in beautiful, print-quality resolution.”
“Google Photos automatically organizes your memories by the people, places, and things that matter,” Sabharwal adds. “You donât have to tag or label any of them, and you donât need to laboriously create albums. When you want to find a particular shot, with a simple search you can instantly find any photoâwhether itâs your dog, your daughterâs birthday party, or your favorite beach in Santa Barbara. And all of this auto-grouping is private, for your eyes only.”
Of course the app comes with photo enhancement features and lets you create collages, animations, movies with soundtracks, etc. There’s also an assistant view, which will suggest new things made with your photos and videos (like collages or stories based on recent trips) not unlike some of the features Google’s current Photos app provides.
You can share photos using the service of your choice, and can even share sets of photos or entire albums.
From the looks of it, the new app takes the best of the Google+ photos experience and completely removes the + from the equation, while giving users an all around nice photo storage and sharing solution.
The app will be available today on Android, iOS, and the web.
Images via Google
If Google+ has seen any sort of enthusiasm over the past couple of years, it’s thanks to photos. Google+ has some nice photo features, but there’s a problem â it’s all tied to Google+. The social network aspect of Google+ hasn’t been the most successful venture in the company’s history, to say the least.
More evidence of that comes today, as Bloomberg reports that Google is poised to reveal its standalone photo sharing and storing service. According to sources, Google will unveil it at the Google I/O developers conference.
According to Bloomberg, Google’s new photo service will play nice with popular social networks and easily let users share photos to Facebook and Twitter.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard this. Last fall, reports said that Google wanted to spin off its photo service and free it from the ties of Google+. Of course, any new Google photo service will still work with Google+ â but it would also allow people who aren’t too keen on the social networking aspects of Google+ to share and store photos.
In March, Google’s Sundar Pichai pretty much confirmed that Google wants to separate Photos from Google+.
Google Photos head Bradley Horowitz also referenced that change was on the horizon.
“Just wanted to confirm that the rumors are true — Iâm excited to be running Googleâs Photos and Streams products! Itâs important to me that these changes are properly understood to be positive improvements to both our products and how they reach users,” he said in a March Google+ post.
Meanwhile, Google continues to insist that Google+ is very much alive.
It’s raining where I live; has been for two days now. Utter dreariness. If this describes the climate where you are today then take a break from gazing listlessly out the window and have a turn at today’s Top Photos From Google+ (or, if you’re in sunnier climes, still take a break for this). Move your mouse cursor over each image to read the caption (if the photographer gave one). If you like what you see here be sure to visit the Google+ accounts of the sharers. Itâll be like a cherry-flavored Life Saver for your soul.
Also: Support the artists.
Buon appetito.
Shared by +Emilio Gutierrez.
Shared by +Catalin Lungu.
Shared by +Shirley Lo.
Shared by +Midori Chan.
Shared by +Thomas Hawk.
Shared by +Laurent Miaille.
Shared by +Frits Vrielink.
Shared by +Kendra Krepinski.
Shared by +Thomas Russ Arnestad.
Shared by +Daniel Cheong.