Google Photos 7.94.0 for Android

Google Photos 7.94.0.984908898 for Android is the current version of Google's photo storage app, which works as a gallery on your phone and a cloud backup at the same time. It is free to download from Google Play and comes with many Android phones already.

Overview

Google Photos launched on 28 May 2015 as a service for storing photos and videos in the cloud. The idea is simple: pictures you take on the phone are copied to your Google account, so they are safe if the phone is lost, and you can see them on any other device or in a browser at photos.google.com. On the phone itself the app replaces the usual gallery. Photos are sorted by date, and search helps you find a picture without scrolling through years of images. You can share an album with family, send a picture as a link rather than a heavy attachment, and make basic edits such as cropping, rotating and adjusting light and colour. Because everything lives in one account, switching to a new phone becomes much easier: sign in, and your library is there. The flip side is storage: the space in a Google account is limited and shared with other Google services, so a large library eventually needs a paid plan.

How to install and set up backup

1. Check whether Google Photos is already on your phone; if so, just update it in Google Play.
2. Otherwise, open Google Play, search for Google Photos by Google and tap Install.
3. Open the app, sign in and turn on backup when asked.
4. Choose whether backup may use mobile data or only Wi-Fi.

Google's help page explains how to get started with Google Photos.

Size and requirements

The app is about 220.71 MB according to catalogue data. You need an Android device with Google Play and a Google account; the photos themselves count against your account storage, not the phone, once they are backed up.

Privacy and safety

Install the app only from Google Play. Protect the Google account with two-step verification, because it holds your whole photo archive. Review shared albums from time to time and remove links you no longer need. Before deleting pictures from the phone to free space, confirm that backup has finished.

Price

The app is free. Storage beyond the free allowance of your Google account requires a paid storage plan.

Pros and cons

• Pro: automatic backup from the phone.
• Pro: one library on every device.
• Pro: easy sharing with family and friends.
• Con: free storage runs out with a big library.
• Con: your photos sit on Google's servers.

Alternatives

Other photo apps for Android in our listings serve related jobs: Adobe Photo Lightroom and Canva for editing and design, PixelLab for adding text to pictures, and Remini for enhancing old photos. Developers can follow the Photos APIs release notes.