Google Photos

Google Photos
Developer(s) Google
Initial release May 28, 2015 (2015-05-28)
Development status Active
Operating system Android, iOS, web
Type Photo storage and sharing
Website photos.google.com

Google Photos is a photograph and video sharing and storage service by Google. It was announced in May 2015 and spun out from Google+, the company's social network. At its launch, reviewers wrote that the service was among the best of its kind.

Service

Google Photos is a photo and video sharing and storage service by Google. Its core features were previously embedded within Google+, the company's social network. The new Google Photos includes unlimited photo and video storage, and apps for Android, iOS, and the browser.[1] Users back up their photos to the cloud service, and become accessible between all of their devices connected to the service.[2]

The Photos service analyzes and organizes images into groups and can identify features such as beaches, skylines, or "snowstorms in Toronto".[1] From the application's search window, users are shown potential searches for groups of photos in three major categories: People, Places, and Things.[2] The service analyzes photos for similar faces and groups them together in the People category.[2] It can also group faces as they age.[1] The Places category uses geotagging data but can also determine locations in older pictures by analyzing for major landmarks (e.g., photos containing the Eiffel Tower).[2] The Things category processes photos for their subject matter: birthdays, buildings, cats, concerts, food, graduations, posters, screenshots, etc. Users can manually remove categorization errors.[2]

Recipients of shared images can view web galleries without needing to download the app.[1] Users can swipe their fingers across the screen to adjust the service's photo editing settings, as opposed to using sliders.[3] Images can be easily shared with social networks (Google+, Facebook, Twitter) and other services. The application generates web links that both Google Photos users and non-users can access.[2]

The unlimited storage supports images up to 16 megapixels and videos up to 1080p,[1] the maximum resolutions for average smartphone users in 2015.[2] Larger files use Google Drive storage space.[1] Larger photographs, typically taken by DSLR cameras, can be uploaded manually through the Google Chrome web browser,[4] or by using an app like Syncdocs which can directly transfer camera memory card photographs to Google Photos.[5]

History

Google Photos is the standalone successor to the photo features in Google+, the company's social network. Google launched the social network to compete with Facebook features, but the service never became as popular and Facebook remained the Internet's preferred website for photo sharing. Google+, however, offered photo storage and organization tools that surpassed Facebook's in power, though Google+ lacked the user base to use it.[3] The Verge praised the Google+ photos features, especially in comparison with other online photo services. They highlighted a tool that repackaged photo bursts and videos. Google spun the Google+ feature out into the standalone Google Photos service, which they announced at the company's May 2015 I/O event.[3] By leaving the social network affiliation, the Photos service changed its association from a sharing platform to a private library platform.[2]

In June 2015, Jacky Alcine, a 21-year-old African American programmer, noticed the new Google Photos app had filed a number of photos of him and his black friend in an automatically generated album named "Gorillas". After reporting, Google removed the controversial "gorilla" tag from the app and made an apology.[6][7]

On February 12, 2016, Google announced[8] that the Picasa desktop application would be discontinued on March 15, 2016, followed by the closure of the Picasa Web Albums service on May 1, 2016. Google stated that the primary reason for retiring Picasa was that it wanted to focus its efforts "entirely on a single photos service" the cross-platform, web-based Google Photos.[9]

Reception

At the May 2015 release of Google Photos, reviewers wrote that the service was among the best of its kind.[1][2][10] Walt Mossberg of Re/code declared the service the best in cloud photo storage over its competition from Amazon (Amazon Cloud Drive), Apple (iCloud), Dropbox, and Microsoft (OneDrive).[2] The Verge wrote that the release made Google a major competitor in the photo storage market,[1] and that its pricing structure obsoleted the idea of paying for photo storage.[3] CNET said the service's phone and tablet apps were particularly good. The website added that Google Photos had a more streamlined design than Yahoo's Flickr and more organizing features than Apple's iCloud photo service.[10]

Reviewers praised the service's search functions.[1][2] The Verge noted the service's speed and intelligence, especially in its ability to sort unorganized photos, as well as its photo loading times, search speeds, and simple photo editing tools.[3] The website also compared the service's new image analysis to technology unveiled by Flickr earlier in the same month.[1] Mossberg (Re/code) thought the face grouping feature was "remarkably accurate", but was most impressed by the subject-based grouping.[2] He was surprised that a search for "boats" found both Cape Cod fishing boats and Venetian gondolas, but also noted errors such as a professional photograph registering as a screenshot.[2]

PC Magazine's John C. Dvorak was concerned about the service's privacy. He was particularly concerned about Google's motivation for building the service, the company's relationships with existing governments, and potential laws that would require Google to provide a user's entire history of photos upon request. Dvorak compared such a scenario to inviting others to "scrounge through your underwear drawer".[11] He criticized the service's sync functions, and preferred folders of images over an unsorted "flat database".[11] Dvorak also highlighted the service's poor choice of photos to animate and lack of longevity guarantees, considering the company's abrupt cancellation of Google Reader. He ultimately suggested that users instead use a portable hard drive, which he considered safer and less expensive.[11]

The Verge described the service's May 2015 release as evidence that Google is spinning out the best features of their Google+ social network. They considered Photos a standout feature of the social network.[1] Walt Mossberg of Re/code described the release as "liberation day" for the photos features that were "effectively hidden" in the "widely ignored social network".[2] The service's strategy, The Verge said, was to put all data on Google's services so that it can be accessed universally.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Kastrenakes, Jacob (May 28, 2015). "Google announces unlimited picture and video storage with new Photos app". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Mossberg, Walt (June 2, 2015). "The New Google Photos: Free at Last, and Very Smart". Re/code. Revere Digital. Archived from the original on June 8, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lowensohn, Josh (May 28, 2015). "Hands-on with Google's new Photos service". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Upload, organize, & share Google photos". Google Support. Google.
  5. ↑ "How to Reliably Sync to Google Photos". Syncdocs.
  6. ↑ Howley, Daniel (June 30, 2015). "Google Photos Mislabels 2 Black Americans as Gorillas". Yahoo! Tech. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  7. ↑ Curtis, Sophie (July 1, 2015). "Google Photos assigns 'gorilla' tag to photos of black people". The Telegraph. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  8. ↑ Sabharwal, Anil. "Moving on from Picasa". The Official Google Picasa Blog. Google, Inc. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  9. ↑ Sabharwal, Anil. "Moving on From Picasa". Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  10. 1 2 Mitroff, Sarah; La, Lynn (May 28, 2015). "Google Photos review". CNET. CBS Interactive. p. 2. Archived from the original on June 8, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 Dvorak, John C. (June 3, 2015). "Google Photos Is Too Creepy". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 8, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.

External links

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