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What's up with this meme that Google stopped full quality downloads? I've seen it mentioned in several places, but it doesn't seem true? I compared checksums o

What's up with this meme that Google stopped full quality downloads? I've seen it mentioned in several places, but it doesn't seem true? I compared checksums of (recently uploaded) 1) original source images 2) result of clicking "Download" in the Web UI 3) what was contained in my most recent Takeout And they all match. There might be issues with the API (didn't check), but that API is VERY limited anyway.

olah_1 6y ago
Takeout no longer includes actual image files. Either that or it broke for me. Someone recommended the github project called Timeliner to help me get the photos though. I just haven’t tried it yet.
- tpolzer 6y ago
  Did you try again? Takeout is pretty flaky sometimes... especially with large libraries.
  - olah_1 6y ago
    Yeah the files were like html files that had image links inside them if I remember correctly. But even those links didn’t work right. This is because of a change they made. I was absolutely distraught tbh. The feeling of being at the mercy of google is a horrible feeling. Especially when there is zero support or assistance.
    - ydant 6y ago
      I just did a take-out today based on your comment here. I received links to over 100 tgz files (4GB each), and checked a couple. Each had JPG files and JSON files with extra metadata ("geoDataExif", "geoData" (inferred from my location history?), "title", "description", etc). I can't tell if the actual images are the originals I uploaded, but I can confirm the images were archived as actual images, and in a serviceable format/structure.
- ydant 6y ago
  I've never heard of Timeliner. It doesn't have good Google ranking, so it was a bit buried. I think this is it: https://github.com/mholt/timeliner https://github.com/mholt/timeliner Timeliner is a personal data aggregation utility. It collects all your digital things from pretty much anywhere and stores them on your own computer, indexes them, and projects them onto a single, unified timeline. Supported data sources * Google Location History * Google Photos
- axaxs 6y ago
  It does. I just used it to reupload my pics to Amazon last week. However, it has tons of metadata files, empty folders, etc. I highly suggest unticking 'preserve directory structure' when unpacking.
  - olah_1 6y ago
    Did you use a specific guide? I’d like to try again and follow the exact same steps as you.
    - axaxs 6y ago
      actually yeah, I didn't know takeout was a thing initially. Here is the site I found that sent me there - https://www.groovypost.com/howto/migrate-google-photos-amazon-photos-unlimited/ https://www.groovypost.com/howto/migrate-google-photos-amazo... Now, when I was just browsing the zips, it was folder after folder of junk I didn't even recognize, I guess metadata files of some sort. Rather than do all that, at least in Gnome, when I unzip it has an option of 'preserve directory structure' that I unchecked, which basically gets rid of all the folders. From there I was easily able to mass remove all the json and other non-photo files, leaving only the photos behind. Good luck.

olah_1 6y ago

Takeout no longer includes actual image files. Either that or it broke for me. Someone recommended the github project called Timeliner to help me get the photos though. I just haven’t tried it yet.

tpolzer 6y ago
Did you try again? Takeout is pretty flaky sometimes... especially with large libraries.
- olah_1 6y ago
  Yeah the files were like html files that had image links inside them if I remember correctly. But even those links didn’t work right. This is because of a change they made. I was absolutely distraught tbh. The feeling of being at the mercy of google is a horrible feeling. Especially when there is zero support or assistance.
  - ydant 6y ago
    I just did a take-out today based on your comment here. I received links to over 100 tgz files (4GB each), and checked a couple. Each had JPG files and JSON files with extra metadata ("geoDataExif", "geoData" (inferred from my location history?), "title", "description", etc). I can't tell if the actual images are the originals I uploaded, but I can confirm the images were archived as actual images, and in a serviceable format/structure.
ydant 6y ago
I've never heard of Timeliner. It doesn't have good Google ranking, so it was a bit buried. I think this is it: https://github.com/mholt/timeliner https://github.com/mholt/timeliner Timeliner is a personal data aggregation utility. It collects all your digital things from pretty much anywhere and stores them on your own computer, indexes them, and projects them onto a single, unified timeline. Supported data sources * Google Location History * Google Photos
axaxs 6y ago
It does. I just used it to reupload my pics to Amazon last week. However, it has tons of metadata files, empty folders, etc. I highly suggest unticking 'preserve directory structure' when unpacking.
- olah_1 6y ago
  Did you use a specific guide? I’d like to try again and follow the exact same steps as you.
  - axaxs 6y ago
    actually yeah, I didn't know takeout was a thing initially. Here is the site I found that sent me there - https://www.groovypost.com/howto/migrate-google-photos-amazon-photos-unlimited/ https://www.groovypost.com/howto/migrate-google-photos-amazo... Now, when I was just browsing the zips, it was folder after folder of junk I didn't even recognize, I guess metadata files of some sort. Rather than do all that, at least in Gnome, when I unzip it has an option of 'preserve directory structure' that I unchecked, which basically gets rid of all the folders. From there I was easily able to mass remove all the json and other non-photo files, leaving only the photos behind. Good luck.