5 ms·

And then you're responsible for backing that local content somewhere else... maybe the cloud?

by akx 6y ago

mittermayr 6y ago
The Google Photos interface itself isn't that big of a product (I think), if you can lose some of the sharing features, I guess it'd be quite an easy app to make that can be run off a v-server or Amazon at considerably less long-term trouble. The big big issue is the seamless auto-upload from phone to Google Photos, that's the fantastic feature that locked me in.
- majora2007 6y ago
  MegaUpload and Plex offer both of those things. Using Plex allows you to control the full storage and interface, then you can sync those to a cloud service or keep on a HDD yourself.
  - Normille 6y ago
    There's also Yandex Disc [0] which is still offering unlimited photo uploads from mobile devices. Although it wouldn't surprise me if they followed Google's lead on this and curtailed their offering as well. As they seem to pretty much mirror everything else Google does. Yandex Disc also has an AI which allows you to search for objects within your photos. [0]https://yandex.com/promo/disk/unlim https://yandex.com/promo/disk/unlim
    - jogundas 6y ago
      You might want to be aware that Yandex is a Russian company before moving all your photos there.
      - Normille 6y ago
        Not everyone who reads this site is a "reds under the bed" paranoid American.
- llimos 6y ago
  True but their AI adds a lot of value. Searching for people is invaluable (though to be fair if you have the files locally, Windows Photos does that too.) Searching by item in the photo is less useful but I can imagine people use it now and again. And the automatically created videos are a nice bonus. But yeah, not enough for me to pay them for it. If I'm going to pay someone, I'll pay someone else.
walrus01 6y ago
the long term cost of buying something like a 12TB USB3.0 external hard drive and periodically letting it synchronize from your master copies, then unplugging it and storing it at a trusted family member's house is a great deal less than paying for 12TB+ of "cloud" storage indefinitely forever.
- fouronnes3 6y ago
  Sure, except no drive sync software is as convenient or user friendly as google photos.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - fletchowns 6y ago
    Google Backup & Sync makes it very cumbersome to retain a local copy of your photos. They used to sync them to Google Drive, so you could at least use Backup & Sync to have local copies. However, they got rid of that feature some time in the last year. I had to switch to using a third party app to sync my "photo reel" from my phone to Google Drive: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ttxapps.drivesync&hl=en_US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ttxapps.dr... Then I use Google Backup & Sync to create a local copy on my desktop, scheduled SyncToy job to copy it to the NAS, and the NAS has a scheduled job to backup to Backblaze B2. In my setup, these irreplaceable photos & videos exist on my phone, Google, my desktop, my NAS, and Backblaze. If you are relying on Google Backup & Sync to restore a large amount of data after a data loss event, you are in for a world of pain and disappointment. It simply does not handle any significant amount of data well. I had to stop backing up "My Computer" with Backup & Sync and just switched to using Google Drive. The files in Google Drive seem to be the only way to "restore" a large amount of files after a data loss event. If they are backed up under "My Computer" in Google Drive and you have a decent amount of data (50GB+), you will have no way to restore these files. The web interface will simply time out when you try to download them. The Backup & Sync client won't even attempt to download these files, even if you try the dead-end workarounds suggested on the web. You won't be able to drag them into your "Google Drive" folder as a workaround either. The whole thing is atrocious. Google Backup & Sync is a fucking joke, and Google should be ashamed of themselves for releasing such a shitty product which does not actually help consumers protect against data loss. Consumers will only realize this at the point they are fucked and trying to restore their data.

And then you're responsible for backing that local content somewhere else... maybe the cloud?

by akx 6y ago

And then you're responsible for backing that local content somewhere else... maybe the cloud?

The Google Photos interface itself isn't that big of a product (I think), if you can lose some of the sharing features, I guess it'd be quite an easy app to make that can be run off a v-server or Amazon at considerably less long-term trouble. The big big issue is the seamless auto-upload from phone to Google Photos, that's the fantastic feature that locked me in.

majora2007 6y ago
MegaUpload and Plex offer both of those things. Using Plex allows you to control the full storage and interface, then you can sync those to a cloud service or keep on a HDD yourself.
- Normille 6y ago
  There's also Yandex Disc [0] which is still offering unlimited photo uploads from mobile devices. Although it wouldn't surprise me if they followed Google's lead on this and curtailed their offering as well. As they seem to pretty much mirror everything else Google does. Yandex Disc also has an AI which allows you to search for objects within your photos. [0]https://yandex.com/promo/disk/unlim https://yandex.com/promo/disk/unlim
  - jogundas 6y ago
    You might want to be aware that Yandex is a Russian company before moving all your photos there.
    - Normille 6y ago
      Not everyone who reads this site is a "reds under the bed" paranoid American.
llimos 6y ago
True but their AI adds a lot of value. Searching for people is invaluable (though to be fair if you have the files locally, Windows Photos does that too.) Searching by item in the photo is less useful but I can imagine people use it now and again. And the automatically created videos are a nice bonus. But yeah, not enough for me to pay them for it. If I'm going to pay someone, I'll pay someone else.

walrus01 6y ago

the long term cost of buying something like a 12TB USB3.0 external hard drive and periodically letting it synchronize from your master copies, then unplugging it and storing it at a trusted family member's house is a great deal less than paying for 12TB+ of "cloud" storage indefinitely forever.

fouronnes3 6y ago
Sure, except no drive sync software is as convenient or user friendly as google photos.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- fletchowns 6y ago
  Google Backup & Sync makes it very cumbersome to retain a local copy of your photos. They used to sync them to Google Drive, so you could at least use Backup & Sync to have local copies. However, they got rid of that feature some time in the last year. I had to switch to using a third party app to sync my "photo reel" from my phone to Google Drive: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ttxapps.drivesync&hl=en_US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ttxapps.dr... Then I use Google Backup & Sync to create a local copy on my desktop, scheduled SyncToy job to copy it to the NAS, and the NAS has a scheduled job to backup to Backblaze B2. In my setup, these irreplaceable photos & videos exist on my phone, Google, my desktop, my NAS, and Backblaze. If you are relying on Google Backup & Sync to restore a large amount of data after a data loss event, you are in for a world of pain and disappointment. It simply does not handle any significant amount of data well. I had to stop backing up "My Computer" with Backup & Sync and just switched to using Google Drive. The files in Google Drive seem to be the only way to "restore" a large amount of files after a data loss event. If they are backed up under "My Computer" in Google Drive and you have a decent amount of data (50GB+), you will have no way to restore these files. The web interface will simply time out when you try to download them. The Backup & Sync client won't even attempt to download these files, even if you try the dead-end workarounds suggested on the web. You won't be able to drag them into your "Google Drive" folder as a workaround either. The whole thing is atrocious. Google Backup & Sync is a fucking joke, and Google should be ashamed of themselves for releasing such a shitty product which does not actually help consumers protect against data loss. Consumers will only realize this at the point they are fucked and trying to restore their data.