Google Photos, home for more than 4 trillion photos and videos worldwide is undergoing a policy upgrade. The company has announced that starting June 1, 2021, Google Photos users will not have the luxury of free uploads.
The "High quality" photos uploaded after that date, will count towards the Google storage quota like Gmail or Drive already does.
The current policy offers users the option of backing up unlimited number of "high quality" photos and videos -- which are compressed to 16MP and High Definition.
If you had chosen to back up original photos, they were already counted against the Google storage cap.
Breaking down the policy change:
The updated policy means a new user will only be offered the free 15 GB storage space that generally comes with Gmail and drive. And if the photos take up more space they will need to purchase a subscription plan from Google One.
David Lieb, the Product Lead for Google said, "beginning June 1, 2021, new content uploaded to Google Photos in “High Quality” (compressed) will now count toward your storage quota."
Will you be affected?
Most likely not, at least till June 2021, as existing users will be exempt from the new storage policy.
All photos and videos uploaded before this date will not be counted towards your 15 GB storage quota.
Lieb added, "First, this only applies to newly uploaded content starting June 1, 2021. All existing HQ content remains exempt from storage quota, including all HQ content uploaded b/w now and then."
In case you want to check in which quality your photos are being backed up in the Photos app, check here for Google settings.
But Pixel users need not worry.
Google said in its blog that, "If you have a Pixel 1-5, photos uploaded from that device won’t be impacted. Photos and videos uploaded in High quality from that device will continue to be exempt from this change, even after June 1, 2021."
Here's how it is priced in India
For users looking at more than the free 15GB, the 100GB Google One plan is priced at Rs 130 per month or Rs 1,300 per year. It also gives you access to additional features like options to add family members. You can subscribe for 200 GB at Rs 210 per month or Rs 2,100 per year; or go for 2TB at Rs 650 per month or Rs 6,500 per year.
Why the change?
The decision to bring change to the "unlimited High quality storage policy" was taken in a bid to organise photos and make them more accessible for longterm use.
Lieb wrote on Twitter why the decision was being made. He added that in order to provide a "great product" that can serve "you over the long haul" it was an important decision. And to ensure it, "we’ve decided to align the primary cost of providing the service (storage of your content) with the primary value users enjoy (having a universally accessible and useful record of your life)."