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Google Photos - Free Unlimited Storage at Original Quality for iPhone Users

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Google Photos - Free Unlimited Storage at Original Quality for iPhone Users
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Taegukgi on 18/10/2019 - 18:44 idownloadblog.com (3450 clicks)
Last edited 18/10/2019 - 20:52

Apple made a change to the way modern iPhones capture photos by default, switching to HEIF/HEVC or “High Efficiency”. This helps reduce file size, but retain the clarity of the photos.

Turns out that Apple’s decision to do that has actually led to what appears to be a loophole for Google Photos users. As was first reported by 9to5Mac from Reddit user “stephenvsawyer“, the switch to High Efficiency means that if Google wanted to compress the photos (as it typically does for photos not stored in original quality), the file size of each photos would actually get bigger, not smaller.

This means that, with this feature turned on, Google Photos will store original quality photos with free unlimited storage, a perk that was traditionally tied to the company’s Pixel smartphone lineup.

(This loophole only applies to photos, and not videos.)

This is good news for iPhone owners, as long as the loophole exists. But it’s even more interesting when it appears that Google is not offering this particular perk to owners of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, two handsets it just announced. Google didn’t offer free unlimited storage at original quality for the Pixel 3a, either, but that was chalked up to the low cost of the phone (compared to the standard Pixel 3/Pixel 3 XL).

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closed Comments

  • mbck on 18/10/2019 - 18:48
    +4

    This is a bug. But upload photos now I suppose to take advantage.

    Nice find

    • Jamesx on 18/10/2019 - 19:11

      Then Google ask you to pay for storage over 10gb or else…

      • mbck on 18/10/2019 - 19:44

        Nah it won't. It usually means u cant upload anymore. Bit the storage includes gmail, so maybe you don't receive any emails?

        But definitely they would not charge yoh

    • liongalahad on 19/10/2019 - 16:05

      It's not a bug, it's just that iPhone photos are compressed very efficiently so that Google actually saves space and CPU power by not compressing them. Win-win situation right there.

      • mbck on 19/10/2019 - 16:25

        You realise android also saves their photos via heic. Unfortunately google has taken away pixels feature of fully uploading original photos. So yeah this is a bug that will be closed down the track.

        • liongalahad on 19/10/2019 - 22:15

          AFAIK on Android HEIC is optional, not default. I guess if you select HEIC on Android then they won't be compressed further and you can have infinite storage too

        • liongalahad on 19/10/2019 - 22:17

          also, this loophole is a known thing for a while, it's not news really.. see here, from one year ago https://tinyurl.com/y48zv2sa

  • aja12 on 18/10/2019 - 18:49
    +43

    The timing of this loop hole is hilarious. Unlimited original quality storage on iOS, just as Google gives unlimited original quality storage the punt for the Pixel 4.

    • nikoris on 18/10/2019 - 19:20
      -3

      Thank god I got my first ever iphone 11 day 1.

      Everything tells me I made the right choice!

      • aja12 on 18/10/2019 - 19:22
        +51

        Your first ever iPhone 11? I don’t think too many people are onto their second iPhone 11 just yet.

        • spaceflight on 18/10/2019 - 22:34
          -6

          I have had an iPhone 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, X.
          43 is more than 11

          • DogGunn on 20/10/2019 - 17:19
            +1

            @spaceflight: You clearly spend too much money with Apple.

            • spaceflight on 20/10/2019 - 17:54
              -2

              @DogGunn: I don't spend enough.
              Their new phones haven't been as innovative or cutting edge as they used to be so I think more people need to spend money with them so they can deliver the best product.

        • boretentsu on 19/10/2019 - 02:27
          +1

          Does it blend?

      • 2024 on 18/10/2019 - 19:33
        +10

        You didn't make the right choice.
        There, not everything told you you 'made the right choice'.

        • bio on 18/10/2019 - 21:23
          +3

          You are not a thing.

          • buckster on 19/10/2019 - 06:29
            +1

            @bio: They'll be whatever they want to be!!!!!

        • nikoris on 19/10/2019 - 11:59

          Yes.

  • Trishool on 18/10/2019 - 18:50
    +2

    This might say me to get the iPhone 11 Pro instead of the Pixel 4XL.

    • steven231 on 18/10/2019 - 20:13
      +5

      Probably a limited time glitch, google will definitely find out sooner or later

    • MDSUXKS on 18/10/2019 - 23:51
      +2

      They are incomparable. Haha

    • darkmattersunB6c0MV on 20/10/2019 - 20:33

      You do realise that Android 10 technically supports the HEIC/HEIF feature, so it could come at some point for Pixel 4?
      Cheers

    • giventofly on 18/10/2019 - 19:31
      +30

      Jennifer Lawrence wants to have a word

      • lostn on 18/10/2019 - 20:36
        +16

        that's not Apple's fault. That's just celebs being dumb.

        • ozbargainer88 on 18/10/2019 - 21:04
          -4

          Not apple's fault? Weren't the passwords brute forced?

          • lostn on 18/10/2019 - 21:06
            +9

            @ozbargainer88: They were social engineered.

            And if they were brute forced, then the passwords were weak or too short to begin with, which is the fault of the user.

            If your password is short and a dictionary word, or based on DOB or some significant number, you're asking for it. No service in the world is going to protect you from being brute forced no matter how secure you claim to be.

            If your password is sufficiently long, is alphanumeric, contains numbers and capitals as well as at least one symbol, good luck brute forcing it.

            The only way you're going to get it is by tricking the user into giving it up. Which btw happens to be the most common and successful way passwords are retrieved.

            • ozbargainer88 on 18/10/2019 - 21:09
              +3

              @lostn: I mean they were brute forced with no limit on attempts.

              • lostn on 18/10/2019 - 21:19
                +6

                @ozbargainer88: You have to understand it would literally take years to brute force a secure password.

                A phishing email or scam caller on the other hand could do it a lot quicker and easier. Or someone who knows a little about you (mother's maiden name, first car, first street, etc) or someone who saw you enter your password and remembered it.

                It could happen to any one of us. But we're nobodies, and no one is interested in our pics. If you were a celeb on the other hand, you are a much juicier target.

              • Randolph Duke on 19/10/2019 - 08:01

                @ozbargainer88: You can lock yourself out of your iCloud account with failed password attempts.

    • brotherfranciz on 18/10/2019 - 19:32
      +8

      So I can store my photos on iCloud and keep all my personal images private

      FAPPENING.

      • smartazz104 on 18/10/2019 - 20:58

        There's no problem, as long as you don't click links in phishing emails.

      • YellowDieselGolf on 19/10/2019 - 08:49

        ⓅⒽⒾⓈⒽⒾⓃⒼ

    • Mixhael on 18/10/2019 - 19:44
      +5

      This is actually a valid concern, if you're not paying for the product you are the product, or in this case your photos are the product. Right now Google is using these images to train it's ai and data processing algorithms, but who knows what other uses google has planned for them in the future. That said I store an enormous amount of photos with google so for me the ease of access anywhere + not having to make a second backup is great.

      • spaceflight on 18/10/2019 - 22:37
        -4

        This is actually a valid concern, if you're not paying for the product you are the product,

        iCloud still has free storage

        Right now Google is using these images to train it's ai and data processing algorithms

        How?
        If they are just sorting the images and nobody is categorising them there isn't any ai training.

      • Diji1 on 19/10/2019 - 00:54
        +1

        if you're not paying for the product you are the product

        It's more appropriate to say you're the fuel. The user is mined for the data.

        • Mixhael on 19/10/2019 - 01:03
          +2

          Hahaha fair enough, but even so just highlighting we're not the main user, instead we're getting used

    • TheBooleanOne on 18/10/2019 - 21:06
      -1

      Cool story, got a source for that claim?

      • Gradesbrah on 19/10/2019 - 06:51

        A source for the differences in encryption methods or a source for the known corporate uses of Google drive data?

        Happy to find either and provide.

        • TheBooleanOne on 19/10/2019 - 09:42

          store them on Google and give up such privacy forever.

          What are you suggesting here? That your images are no longer private when using Google Photos?

    • nicolascage on 18/10/2019 - 21:11
      +1

      Apple stores your iCloud on Google servers anyway.
      https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&sxsrf=ACYBGNTeaJ61U8u…

      • Gradesbrah on 19/10/2019 - 06:45
        +4

        Apple stores them via end-to-end encryption, leaving them as an encrypted file Google and Apple cannot view.
        Google, to my knowledge does not. This is why images are able to be used for AI training and other commercial uses e.g. targeted ads. I have also heard stories of numerous files being targeted for searches by academic institutions when stored with Google Drive under university linked accounts. Granted that is in terms of use.

        The celebrity iCloud hack was a failure in security which people rightly point out lead to a loss of privacy. Security works poorly when people do not follow the recommended methods of password selection and avoiding phishing scams, as others have pointed out. Privacy is with corporations is a different issue, even if related.

        Considering the number of downvotes I would appreciate people explain to me the reasons why iCloud does not provide more privacy than Google Drive if your account is not breached. If it doesn’t, I will happily go back to using Google Drive.

        • mbck on 19/10/2019 - 16:35
          +2

          https://proprivacy.com/cloud/how-secure-is-cloud-storage

          They're all the same. End to end encryption is only for some apps for iOS, not files.

          And all cloud storage has tnc that allows the company to use your data to improve their services in one way or another.

          So no apple isn't special, you're just sucked in by the marketing speech…And the price.

    • brendanm on 18/10/2019 - 21:15

      History tells a different story

  • Bellpop on 18/10/2019 - 19:00
    +1

    Great deal. THanks for sharing.

  • UltimateAI on 18/10/2019 - 19:00
    +3

    Good but they may fix this, with video formats they flag the files as “not converted’ and apply against the quota.
    So looks like this is intentionally allowed.

    OneDrive app is also good for those with O365 (can also preserves HEIC)

  • Blue Cat on 18/10/2019 - 19:21

    Does anyone know any good HEIF to JPG converters? Preferably Open Source.

    • sauce2k6 on 18/10/2019 - 19:46
      -2

      Lol jpg? You trying to upload pictures to your Myspace account or something

    • rlexyd on 18/10/2019 - 20:31
      +2

      I use the Free “imazing heic converter”, it’s been good on my Windows PC.

    • mcpower on 19/10/2019 - 15:06
      +1

      For open source options, GIMP and ImageGlass (Windows only) support HEIC, but aren't designed to be image converters.

      You can also use heif-convert from libheif-examples:

      sudo apt-get install libheif-examples
# convert one file - use xargs for multiple files
heif-convert camel.heif camel.jpg
      • agalea101 on 20/10/2019 - 12:26

        Haha gimp. Sorry probs a cool site but Jesus who the hell got out of bed and came up with that name for a site.org 🤣

    • jrjr on 11/11/2019 - 09:16
      -1

      cmd
      ren *.heif *.jpg

  • jace88 on 18/10/2019 - 19:28
    +1

    So do we need to do anything or was it all automatic if you had google photos set to upload as “high quality”?

  • kehuehue on 18/10/2019 - 19:35
    +5

    Samsung note 10 also has this option… So unlimited these phones too?

    • [Deactivated] on 18/10/2019 - 21:30

      Wondering the same

    • Bellpop on 18/10/2019 - 19:42
      +13

      RUOK?

    • jeozb on 18/10/2019 - 21:56

      Hmm… I'm not sure I share the same sentiment, but

      Only iCloud actually stores advanced data such as Live Photo, depth focus data, and being able to change the zoom amount

      this is good to know.

    • spaceflight on 18/10/2019 - 22:40
      -1

      Total bullshit. Only iCloud actually stores advanced data such as Live Photo, depth focus data, and being able to change the zoom amount even on latest 11 Pro Max.

      Other companies that don't want to force you to use their product could store most of that data as metadata.

      You don’t actually have a choice but iCloud.

      You do. It is not an iPhone.

    • jace88 on 18/10/2019 - 23:50

      Isn't all that data encoded in the HEIC?

  • noise36 on 18/10/2019 - 19:40
    +2

    Samsung can save photos/videos as HEIF/HEVC so assume same thing applies?

    • eug on 18/10/2019 - 22:15

      I believe so. When I set my S10 to save as HEIC, it's the full-sized .heic file that gets saved to Google Photos.

  • dammit on 18/10/2019 - 19:42

    I have my google photos set to unlimited/compress , should I be changing it? Is there a setting on iphone or nothing needs to happen

    • iSamurai on 18/10/2019 - 20:03

      i read the article and it looks like nothing needs to happen, if your google photos is set to unlimited ("high quality"), and your iphone is set to HEIC (default option).

  • GReeeeN on 18/10/2019 - 19:48

    Says 11gb remaining for original, what do I need to do to make it unlimited as mentioned in OP?

    Edit; oops I get it, so we select “high quality” for unlimited storage, but the google compressing doesn’t actually work on HEIF/ HEVC?

  • Sage on 18/10/2019 - 20:02
    -3

    After the massive leak with Apple's cloud storage photos I don't know why anyone would choose to use the service. From what I've seen if you wish to transfer or copy any of the photos it's practically impossible. I had a case where the only way was to manually tick one by one each photo to copy them off the cloud.
    Now Google is involved, they'll probably use machine learning to scan your photos to their database and somehow use them for advertising and marketing.

    • Punknerd on 18/10/2019 - 20:18
      +2

      doesn't matter. still free storage.

    • smartazz104 on 18/10/2019 - 21:00
      +7

      After the massive leak with Apple's cloud storage photos I don't know why anyone would choose to use the service.

      Do you mean the one involving celebrities who fell for spear phishing attacks?

    • stickyfingers on 18/10/2019 - 21:19

      somehow use them for advertising and marketing

      To be honest I'd rather get personalised ads then have to see ads for crap I don't care about.

  • UltimateAI on 18/10/2019 - 20:04
    +3

    I think someone has already mentioned this, but it was downvoted and hidden.
    "Uploading to anything else other than iCloud even in HEIC removes the fancy features, you just get the single keyframe".
    Moving the pictures back to the phone, doesn't get this back.

    For myself it's a small price to pay, not to use iCloud, but just making people aware.

  • pgdownload on 18/10/2019 - 22:42

    I'm surprised the comments haven't noted that this is exactly the same as Google's free unlimited 'high quality' offer.
    HEVC is a compression algorithm, its not 'original quality'.

    • Diji1 on 19/10/2019 - 00:56
      -1

      If it's losslessly compressed then it's original quality.

  • Manny Calavera on 18/10/2019 - 22:53

    iPhone 6 doesn’t do HEIC =\

  • plmko on 18/10/2019 - 23:25
    -3

    Lol cloud storage, if you are an Android user then you owe it to yourself to choose one with SD card access.

    • spaceflight on 20/10/2019 - 17:58
      -1

      Until you want to use a second sim card

  • mr_me450 on 18/10/2019 - 23:30
    -2

    Google always gives free unlimited storage for photos up to 16MP; considering the highest resolution iPhone only shoots at 12MP all iPhone users already had free unlimited storage, regardless of whether you’re uploading as HEVC or JPEG.

    • eug on 18/10/2019 - 23:36
      +3

      You seem to be mixing the two tiers up. Google has always provided unlimited free storage, but not unlimited free full-quality storage. Quality here does not refer to the resolution, it refers to the amount of JPEG compression. If you take a 12MP photo on your phone, the JPEG might be 2.5MB while the version on Google Photos might be 800KB even though it's still 12MP.

      (also HEVC is for video, HEIF/HEIC is for photos)

      • mr_me450 on 19/10/2019 - 06:33

        My mistake, I wasn’t aware that compression outside the change in resolution took place, thanks for the info.

    • HashBrown on 19/10/2019 - 02:05

      That's not true, any photo under 16MP uploaded from non-pixel devices without selecting original quality does get compressed.

  • DauntingEarth on 18/10/2019 - 23:53
    +5

    tl dr

    1) Settings > Camera > Format > Tick high efficiency

    2) Google photos > Menu (top left) > Settings > Back up & sync > Upload size > Tick Original

    • HashBrown on 19/10/2019 - 02:08
      +9

      Tick High quality, not original. If you tick original the photo you upload will count towards your storage(15GB free)

      • iSamurai on 19/10/2019 - 03:49
        +1

        i think so too. the rationale was that because "high quality" compresses .jpg to make images smaller, however, original .heic files are smaller than the "high quality" option so the files will be uploaded as is.

        Edit: looks like I understood it correctly. See https://www.imore.com/google-photos-giving-iphones-unlimited…

      • DauntingEarth on 19/10/2019 - 15:55

        I may have misunderstood. But wasn't the idea of the OP was that HEIC (that is high efficiency) is so efficient and small that even if you upload HEIC as original it won't count towards to the free storage? And that’s the big?

  • ilovefullprice on 18/10/2019 - 23:57

    Does this work for iPads too?

    • muncan on 19/10/2019 - 09:15
      +1

      When using iOS 11 or later, the following devices can capture media in HEIF or HEVC format. Other devices can view, edit, or duplicate this media with limitations, if using iOS 11 or later or macOS High Sierra or later.

      • iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus or later
      • iPad (6th generation)
      • iPad Air (3rd generation)
      • iPad mini (5th generation)
      • iPad Pro (10.5 inch)
      • iPad Pro (11 inch)
      • iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) or later

      https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT207022

  • HashBrown on 19/10/2019 - 02:06

    Remember first Generation Pixel get unlimited original free storage of photos and 4K videos for,,,, well, forever , unlike Pixel 2/3/4.

  • liongalahad on 19/10/2019 - 16:11
    +2

    It's a relatively old thing, this has been a known "loophole" for a while now, see this reddit post from 1 year ago for example: https://tinyurl.com/y48zv2sa
    For some reason this made the news recently, not sure why. Maybe because they axed the unlimited original uploads from Pixel 4?
    HEIC should become the standard for all smartphones really.

    • Numlock on 19/10/2019 - 21:15

      So what do i do to activate this feature on my iphone?
      English was too difficult for me

      • liongalahad on 19/10/2019 - 22:10

        On the iphone app you go to settings, backup & sync, upload quality and select High quality instead of Original size. That's it. From now on your uploads won't count on your data allowance of your Google account, with the photo quality being the same.

  • yozza on 20/10/2019 - 14:16

    Isn't this deal more accurately titled "Google Photos - Free Unlimited Storage at Original Quality for any phones which can save in HEIC" ?

    Pixel 4, newer samsungs, etc. can do this I think? So not just iphones?

  • Officialfloyd on 20/10/2019 - 17:57

    So I can only assume I’m missing something obvious or isn’t this essentially just “google photos” which has had unlimited backups and storage for years? Providing they also do not exceed a set size limit?

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