Google Photos – The Good Parts

When Google launched Gmail in 2004, it bundled 40x more free storage space than competing web mail services. It seemed to solve all storage woes and there was not even a “delete” button in Gmail because, with a gigabyte available, why would anyone ever delete their emails. They’ve adopted a similar approach with Google Photos but gone a step further.

Google Photos offers unlimited online storage space for your digital photos and videos. The original images are compressed after uploading but the difference is barely noticeable, at least on the computer screen.

I started dumping all my pictures to Google Photos, the day it launched, and couldn’t be happier. The initial purpose was online backup but now Google Photos has become “the” place where I go to explore my photos. The files do not consume a byte of local storage space and yet the entire collection is always available on every device that I own.

Here are essential things that you should know about Google Photos and some tips to help get the most out of this amazing photo backup service.

Upload your pictures to Google Photos

Google Photos has desktop uploaders for both Windows PCs and Mac OS X. Alternatively, you can drag folders from the desktop to photos.google.com and they’ll be uploaded instantly. Android, iPhone and iPad users can install the Google Photos app and their mobile photo will be backed up automatically.

There’s no support for Windows Phone. Linux users can upload photos from a web browser but it is not a very convenient thing when you have too many folders to upload. And if you are already storing photos in places like iCloud, OneDrive or Dropbox, you’ll have to download them locally first for sending to Google Photos. There’s no cloud-to-cloud transfer option.

Organize your Google Photos

Google Photos will arrange your uploaded pictures by location and by date taken automatically. It can also recognize the subject of photos using machine algorithms so if you search for “food” or “dinner”, you will likely see all your family dinner photos. You can find “selfies” too. The results aren’t always accurate but a useful option nonetheless.

Facial recognition, the most useful feature of Picasa, is also available in Google Photos but not outside the United States. There’s no way to search for photos by date or tags either.

If you have painstakingly organized your photo in albums manually, you’ll be disappointed to know that Google Photos will ignore these albums and instead dump all the photos in one big pool. You can create photo albums inside Google Photos but it will not maintain the local album structure during upload.

Duplicate Files in Google Photos

Google Photos can smartly detect duplicate photos and will skip uploading them if a copy has been uploaded previously. The file names of your photos can be different and they can reside in different folders of your hard disk but the service will still recognize the duplicates and remove them from the upload queue.

There are two kinds of duplicates – exact duplicates and near duplicates. If you take a file and slightly crop it or change the EXIF data, it is a near duplicate of the original file. Google Photos will however treat this is a different photo and upload it as well along with the original image.

If you have too many “near duplicates” on your computer, use a desktop tool like Picasa to remove the duplicates before adding them to the upload queue.

Deleting Files in Google Photos

You can delete a file from Google Photos and it will go to the trash. It sits there for 60 days and is then permanently removed so you have enough opportunity to restore your accidental deletes.

Here’s an important detail you should know though.

Let’s say you have a file holiday.jpg in a local Google Photos folder. If you delete this file from the Google Photos app and also empty your Google Photos’ recycle bin, the local file will get re-uploaded to Google Photos. This will happen on mobile as well. If you delete an item from Photos, the item may get re-uploaded from the phone’s gallery.

Thus, always remove files from the local folder as well after the upload it complete else they’ll be re-uploaded if you ever remove the corresponding files from Google Photos.

Editing & Sharing Google Photos

You can select one or more photos, hit the Share button and Google Photos will create an semi-private album with your selected photos. If you choose to share on WhatsApp or other messaging apps, Google Photos will download and send the actual photos and not just share the link to the album.

Google Photos include a suite of image editing tools that let you perform basic edits and you can also apply Instagram-like filters to your images. I was impressed with the photo editing capabilities of Google+ earlier and the same set of tools are now available in Photos. You can even produce animated GIFs and photo slideshows and send them to YouTube straight from the app.

When you share a photo or album in Google Photos via a link, anyone with that link can view your shared photos. There’s no way to limit sharing to specific email addresses as we have in Google Drive.

Google Photos – Tips & Tricks

• The Google Photos uploader is a one-way client and, unlike Dropbox, it will not sync your photos on multiple computers or mobile devices. You can however use Google Takeout to download all your Google Photos on another computer.
• In Google Drive, go to settings and turn on the option that says “Automatically put your Google Photos into a folder in My Drive.” You can now see all your uploaded photos inside Drive and you can even sync your Google Photos with other computers just like any other Google Drive folder.
• There’s no Google Photos API available but if you want to programmatically access Google Photos, the good old Picasa Web API may do the trick.
• The Google Photos app is not Chromecast compatible but you can cast the entire phone screen to see your photo collection on the TV.
• The desktop uploader for Google Photos may not upload screenshot images.
• If you not sure if the desktop uploader is working, go to this secret link and confirm whether files are getting added or not.
• Google Photos are not available inside Gmail but if you have linked your Photos to Google Drive, you can easily attach any of your Google Photos in email messages.
• Go to the YouTube website, click the upload button and you’ll see a new option that says “Import from Google Photos.” You can pull any video from Photos and send it to YouTube.

The hard disks and CDs, where you are currently storing those precious memories, will go defunct in a few years. With Google Photos now available, there’s no reason not to upload your pictures to the cloud because all you need is a decent internet connection.

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The story, Google Photos – The Good Parts, was originally published at Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal on 19/06/2015 under Photos, Internet.

New Interface for Google Cache

Google Cache pages have an updated header and now allow you to check the source code of the cached page.

The message is the same. Here's an example: "This is Google's cache of http://ift.tt/1ApNg8t. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on Jun 17, 2015 19:01:59 GMT. The current page could have changed in the meantime."

Google lets you switch between:

* the "full version", which is displayed by default
* the "text-only version", which doesn't load images, scripts and other resources
* the page source - a new feature.

Full version:

Text-only version:

Source code:

Google+ Link in Google Translate

While other Google services remove integration with Google+, Google Translate added a prominent link to its own Google+ page. The Google+ icon is placed next to the Phrasebook icon, at the top of of the page. It will be interesting to see how long it will last.

{ Thanks, Alireza Eskandarpour Shoferi. }

Google Mobile Search Tests More Dividing Lines

Google tests a slightly different mobile search interface that adds dividing lines between search results URLs and snippets, while decreasing font size for titles. Another change is that the names of the specialized search engines are written in uppercase letters (WEB, NEWS, IMAGES, SHOPPING, etc.)

Google already used dividing lines that separate search results, so the new lines are a bit confusing. Some users might associate a snippet with the URL of the next search results.

Here's the regular mobile search UI:

Share Button Removed From Google Navigation Bar

Google removed the share button from the navigation bar, so you can no longer use it to share photos, links or create events and polls in Google+. It's just another Google+ feature that's removed and Google+ seems to be on its way out.

Here's the missing share panel:

{ Thanks, Sean Leather. }

Quotes Card in Google Search

Google shows a card with a long list of quotes for searches like [Einstein quotes]. This works in the desktop interface and the mobile site and it's a quick way to find some quotations without visiting any search result.

Here's the first quote by Albert Einstein: "Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid. Human beings are incredibly slow, inaccurate, and brilliant. Together they are powerful beyond imagination."

{ Thanks, Mukil. }

Chrome Web Store Adds Compatibility Information

Chrome Web Store now shows if an app, extension or theme is "compatible with your device". Google also uses a small icon to reassure users that they can install the app, extension or theme and it will work on their device.

If the app is not compatible, the blue "add to Chrome" button is replaced by a red "not compatible" button, just like before. Click the "not compatible" button and you'll see a message like: "This application is not supported on this computer. Installation has been disabled. The following problems are detected: This app runs only on Chrome OS".

{ Thanks, Mukil Elango. }

Gay Google (2015)

Just like last year and the years before, Google celebrates the LGBT Pride Month with some special decorations that are displayed when you search for [gay], [lgbt], [lesbian], [transgender], [queer] and other queries that include them. This time, Google shows a colorful heart and some people holding hands.

You can also check Google's decorations from 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Send Places to Mobile Devices in Google Maps

Google Maps now lets you send a place from the desktop site to the mobile app for iOS. You first need to open Google Maps for iOS, go to the Settings, tap Notifications and enable "Sent from desktop Maps". "Make sure you’re signed in to Google Maps with the same account across your computer and mobile devices with the latest version of Maps for mobile installed," informs Google. Then you can search for a place in desktop Google Maps, click "send to device", pick the iOS device and you'll get a notification on your device.

Some similar features are available for Android from the desktop Google Search site. You can send directions, notes and even set an alarm. Unfortunately, "send to device" is not yet available in Google Maps for Android yet.

{ via Lifehacker }

Updated Interface for Google Play Music Mini Player

Google Play Music for the Web wasn't the only thing updated to Material Design last month. Google also updated the mini player that's displayed when you install the Chrome app.

The mini player is still standalone, so it works without having to open Google Play Music in a new tab. It has some new animations, controls hide when you're not using them, there's an icon that shows the main player and you can click the song's title or the artist's name to open the album page or the artist page in Google Play Music.

Here are some screenshots from Chrome for Mac and Windows:

{ Thanks, Angelo Giuffrida. }

Google Payments

Now that Google announced Android Pay, it's interesting to see what happens with Google Wallet. A Google+ post mentioned a few weeks ago that Google is building a new Google Wallet app that will "will allow anyone with a US debit card to send and receive money for free within minutes - even if the other person doesn't have the app".

There's also a help center for a service called Google Payments, which is supposed to be available at payments.google.com. Right now, this URL redirects to Google Wallet. "You can securely store payment information in your Google Account using Google Payments. You can use this payment information to make and track purchases on Google services," informs Google. The services that support Google Payments are Google Play, Google Drive, YouTube and Google Express.

Chrome's Dev Channel replaced Google Wallet references with Google Payments. For example, there's an option that shows "addresses and credit cards from Google Payments". Here's a screenshot from Chrome Dev for Android:

{ Thanks, Brandon Giesing. }

Google Calendar Discontinues SMS Notifications

SMS notifications were a very useful Google Calendar feature back when smartphones weren't popular and most people used feature phones. Now that the sales of feature phones decline and they're replaced by low-cost smartphones, Google decided to discontinue SMS notifications.

"Starting on June 27th, 2015, SMS notifications from Google Calendar will no longer be sent. SMS notifications launched before smartphones were available. Now, in a world with smartphones and notifications, you can get richer, more reliable experiences on your mobile device, even offline. This change will not affect Google Apps for Work, Education and Government customers," informs Google.

{ Thanks, Manuelvh. }

New Logo for Video Hangouts

Jeremy Couch, a reader of this blog, noticed that video Hangouts have a new logo. Instead of the Google+ logo, Hangouts uses the Google logo.

Right now, Hangouts is a Google+ feature and it's also available inside Gmail, Google Inbox and as standalone apps for Chrome, Android and iOS. Maybe Google plans to detach Hangouts from Google+.

{ Thanks, Jeremy. }

10-Day Weather Cards in Google Mobile Search

Google's weather card for mobile devices now shows 10-day forecasts. Just swipe to the left to see the rest of the forecast.

Here are some screenshots for [weather in London]:

Until now, mobile weather cards only included 6 days. Google Now cards for weather are still limited to 5 days, while desktop cards show weather forecasts for 8 days.

Google My Account Promos

Google promotes the new interface of the Google Account settings page, which is now called My Account. "Google gives you the tools to control your privacy and security," informs a promotional card.

It's interesting to notice that "My Account" replaced "View Profile" in the panel that shows up when you click the profile picture from the navigation bar. "Profile" is now a small link next to "Privacy".

Here's the old UI:

From Google+ Notifications to Google Notifications

Google's navigation bar has a bell icon that shows the number of unread Google+ notifications and lets you read them. Google has recently renamed this section from "Google+ notifications" to "Google notifications" and added a special icon next to Google+ notifications.

Google also shows notifications for YouTube and Blogger, but most notifications should be for Google+. Until now, Google added icons for events and circles, but not for Google+ posts. Maybe the notification section will add support for other Google services.

{ Thanks, Frodo Baggins. }

Gmail's Basic HTML Warning

If you use this URL to open Gmail's basic HTML interface, you'll probably see this message:

"Do you really want to use HTML Gmail? You're about to use a version of Gmail designed for slower connections and legacy browsers. To get all of Gmail's features, including inbox categories, images, and quick actions, please use the latest version of Gmail (recommended)."

You can click "Take me to latest Gmail" or "I'd like to use HTML Gmail" if you really, really want to use it.

{ Thanks, Luiz Pimenta. }

Google+ Photos Redirects to Google Photos

Now that Google launched a new photo sharing service (Google Photos), it's interesting to see what happens with Google+ Photos.

Google has a new Android app for Google Photos. Until now, the Google Photos shortcut linked to the Google+ app. A recent update to the Google+ app removed the Photos section, so you can no longer check your photos from Google+.

The desktop Google+ site redirects users to the new Google Photos and shows this message: "Google Photos gives your personal photos a comfy new home. Photos shared in Google+ remain part of your Google+ profile." There's also a link to Google+ Photos.

Picasa Web Albums, Google+ Photos and the new Google Photos are different interfaces for the same photo library. Now that Google Photos no longer requires Google+, it's likely that Google can finally retire Picasa Web Albums and replace it with Google Photos.

Google's Navigation Bar Removes Google+ Integration

When you are logged in, Google's navigation bar shows your name next to the app launcher. Until now, Google added a "+" next to the name and linked to Google+. Starting today, Google no longer links to Google+ and the "+" prefix has been removed. You can still find the Google+ shortcut in the app launcher.

It's another change which shows that Google+ will take a back seat and will no longer be promoted as a standalone service.

{ Thanks, Juan. }