Google offers various apps that serve similar purposes. For instance, there are Google Drive vs Google Photos. Both of these apps are used to synchronize videos and pictures, upload them, and share photos. This can be confusing as it is not clear which app to use and when to use it. However, this article aims to address this confusion by providing guidance on which app to use for different tasks. By reading this article, you will be able to understand how to use these apps effectively.
What is Google Drive?
Google Drive is a digital platform for storing files, where users can manually upload images and videos, arrange them into folders, and also share them with others. While it doesn’t have specific photography features, it does allow you to upgrade anything against your Google storage conditions. This technology provides a cloud-based infrastructure that anyone can use. Google Drive offers a convenient way to create backups of various media types such as files, apps, and more.
What is the Google Photos?
Google Photos is a system for syncing videos and images and backing them up. You can sync videos and photos from both your laptop and mobile devices, view them in a record organized by date, and organize them into albums. In addition, it is possible to search for photos and perform basic editing of them using Google Drive. While compressed photos and videos are not counted against your Google Storage conditions, once they are uncompressed in Google Photos, they are. Both iOS and Android devices can use Google Photos, and it automatically backs up unlimited content.
Some Basic Differences Between Them:
Google Drive is a backup file system, while Google Photos is a system for backing up videos and photos. Google Drive has several organizing features, whereas Google Photos is used for organizing albums. With Google Drive, you can get a restricted amount of free storage, whereas Google Photos provides limitless storage space for files. It also offers more organizational features compared to Google Photos. The user interface for both systems is different.
As a cloud storage service, Google Drive allows you to upload any type of file, including photos and videos. By utilizing the Upload button, you can upload either single photos or whole photo folders to Google Drive. Photos in Google Drive appear like any other file and can be organized into folders and shared. However, the photo editing options in Google Drive are limited, and you cannot edit or manipulate images. Nevertheless, you can comment on and share photos for collaboration purposes. With Google Drive, you can easily share folders with others.
Google Photos Basic Features:
Users utilize Google Photos as a tool to organize a massive collection of photos. The Google Photos app can be downloaded on laptops or mobile devices, and the app automatically backs up every image to the Google Cloud. The app can also connect to your camera through an app called Backup & Sync. Browsing your photos on the website photos.google.com is possible. They are organized by date and can be easily scrolled through across the years. Additionally, Google Photos allows you to create albums and transfer photos between them. One of its best features is its AI-driven search function, which makes it easy to find specific photos.
How To Move Photos From Google Drive To Google Photos?
To move your photos from Google Drive to Google Photos, you can follow these straightforward steps:
Step 1: Pick the photos you wish to transfer within Google Drive, then click the three dots in the menu bar situated above and choose the “Download” option.
Step 2: Next, open Google Photos and drag the downloaded folder into it.
Google Photos will automatically upload the photos after the download is complete.
Step 3: Once the transfer is complete and you have confirmed that your photos are now in Google Photos, you can safely remove them from Google Drive to free up space on both services.
How To Move Photos From Google Photos To Google Drive?
To transfer photos from Google Photos to Google Drive, you can follow these uncomplicated steps:
Step 1: In the first step, choose the photos you wish to download, then click on the three dots located in the top-right corner of the toolbar, and select the “Download” option.
Step 2: Then, proceed to Google Drive and generate a new folder specifically for the photos. The folder can be named according to your liking.
Step 3: Drag the downloaded photos from your computer into the Google Drive window to upload them to the newly created folder.
Step 4: After successfully uploading the photos to Google Drive, you can remove them from Google Photos to avoid duplication.
Note that you should only remove photos from Google Photos if you are certain that you have successfully transferred them to Google Drive and no longer need them in both locations.
Should You Use Google Photos or Google Drive?
It’s hard to say which is the best tool to use between Google Drive vs Google Photos because both are great options, but in my opinion, they have specific uses:
If you need to quickly share a folder of photos, Google Drive is the better choice, especially in a work context.
On the other hand, if you need to back up and easily search through a large photo collection, Google Photos is more useful, particularly for personal use.
Ultimately, your choice between the two will rely on your specific requirements and preferences.
Latest Features of Google Drive:
File Upgrade:
Google Drive supports more file formats than Google Photos, which only supports image, video, and audio files. When we compare the two services, Google Drive supports a wider range of file formats, including Google Sheets, PDFs, and Office documents.
Laptop Backup Option:
You can install the Google Drive desktop application on your laptop to back up your files to Google Drive on Windows. By storing your data securely, you can ensure its easy access whenever needed.
Cooperative With MS Office Suite:
Google Drive is the best option for collaborating with the MS Office suite. Google Drive allows for opening Word and Excel documents within the cloud drive, which makes it simple to collaborate and share data. This feature is especially convenient for working on documents with others in real-time.
Latest Features of Google Photos:
Selectable Photo Quality Upgrade:
Google Photos provides two storage options: Original Quality and Storage Saver. Original Quality preserves the photos and videos in their true resolution, while Storage Saver can store images up to 16 megapixels and videos up to 1080p resolution, allowing you to save storage space. By utilizing these options, you can select the storage setting that aligns best with your requirements.
Strong Search Function:
Google Photos has a powerful search function that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help you find your photos quickly. It is possible to look for photos using various criteria, such as color, faces, location, scene, and others. For example, if you search for “cat,” the app will display all images of cats in your collection.
Photo Editor:
Google Photos provides a photo and video editor that allows you to make various changes to your media, such as rotating, cropping, applying filters, adding effects, and more. By utilizing these editing functionalities, you can effortlessly improve your photos and videos according to your preferences.
Assistant:
Google Photos is a great app that provides notifications of your memories and highlights. It can generate animations, collages, movies, and more based on your media. This feature offers an enjoyable method to revisit your memories and share them with your loved ones and friends.
Photo Faces:
Organizing old photos can be challenging, but Google Photos makes it easier by using facial recognition technology. The app can identify faces in your photos and videos, and you can add individual names to each face for better organization. This feature is helpful in quickly finding and viewing photos of specific people in your collection.
Pros of Google Drive:
- Organizes your files.
- Large backup options.
- All files are secure.
Cons of Google Drive:
- While Uploading files from mobile it sometimes shows an error.
- A bit confusing sometimes for some users.
Pros of Google Photos:
- Storage is about 15 GB of your data and photos.
- A large amount of data stored in it is safe from all perspectives.
Cons of Google Photos:
- The gallery can be a mess on smartphones.
- Removing some photos or videos from the gallery doesn’t remove from google photos.
- The system does not automatically remove old photos that are too large in data and are not useful.
Final Review:
After a thorough discussion of the functions and purposes of Google Drive vs Google Photos, it is safe to say that both are excellent in their respective roles. However, people often find it confusing to differentiate between the two. To clarify this, you can refer to my article which highlights the distinctions between Google Drive vs Google Photos. Google Photos is exceptional for editing photos and storing videos and images. On the other hand, Google Drive offers a wider range of management and backup options for various files. Hence, in terms of versatility and functionality, Google Drive takes the lead.
In case you experience any challenges when transferring photos between Google Drive vs Google Photos, you can consider using MultCloud as an alternative solution. This tool can assist you in managing multiple cloud storage accounts and performing cloud-to-cloud migration and backups between them.
Most Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Can we save photos in Google Photos as private or public?
A: Yes, we can save photos in Google Photos as private or public. By default, they are saved as private and you can choose to share them with other users if you want. The choice of making them private or public is completely up to you.
Q: Do Google Photos reduce the quality of the pictures?
Yes, Google Photos compresses the pictures to save space. Any pictures larger than 16 megapixels are resized to 16 megapixels.
Q: Do Google Photos take up space on Google Drive?
A: Yes, storing original-size photos and videos in Google Drive takes up space. It is vital to consider that backups also occupy storage space.