Google Photos to end unlimited free backup of photos next year

New Delhi : Launched in 2015 with an offer to upload unlimited free photos at low resolution but decent  quality for most of the users, Google Photos has announced the end of its free services, which will be applicable from next year.

The new measure has been announced keeping in mind to control the pace of data upload which is increasing day by day. Google Photos has over a billion users today with 4 trillion uploaded photos/videos, and 28 billion added weekly.

Google is quick to specify that existing photos and videos uploaded in “High quality” — where images bigger than 16 megapixels and clips over 1080p are shrunk down — before that date will not count towards the storage limit. Photos will keep offering this compressed backup option moving forward as a way to let people maximize their storage capacity.

"This means that photos and videos backed up before June 1, 2021 will still be considered free and exempt from the storage limit. You can verify your backup quality at any time in the Photos app by going to back up & sync in Settings," said Google.

Additionally, the company has claimed that with 15GB of free space, most of the users will be able to use it for free for up to three years. Google Photos has a new “personalized estimate” for how long it could take to max out storage that takes into account backup frequency. Next year, another utility inside Photos will highlight dark or blurry photos and large videos that you might want to delete to conserve space.

Google is pushing users to its One subscription service for extra storage and other perks, like a VPN. Plans start at $1.99/month for 100GB, $2.99 (200GB), $9.99 (2TB) and beyond. The three entry tiers have annual payment options: $19.99, $29.99, and $99.99, respectively.