Until some time ago, the only way to save photos taken with the mobile phone was to connect the device with a USB cable, in order to save the content on the computer hard drive. Today times have definitely changed: with a few simple tricks or with the right app we can enable automatic uploading of photos to the cloud, so as to have unlimited online backup. In this guide we will show you how to take advantage of the most famous services and with the highest space to be able to save photos online, so that we no longer have to worry about losing the precious holiday photographs or some special event in which we participated.
The guide will focus on the services available for both Android and iOS, so as to be able to automatically upload photos to any smartphone in your possession.
Article Index
- Google Photos
- Amazon Photos
- iCloud
- Other Clouds for free
Google Photos
The most famous service is without a doubt the backup of Google Photos, which allows you to upload an unlimited number of photos online at a quality pre-established by the service; therefore they will not upload the original photos but a conversion of the lower quality photos. To take advantage of this service, simply download the Google Photos app for Android and for iPhone, start it, enter the credentials of the Google account to be used for the backup and go to the Settings -> Backup and synchronization of the app, from which it will be You can adjust the settings that we deem appropriate.
Activating the Backup and synchronization item will start the automatic upload of the photos taken with the rear camera; among the other available options we can choose whether to start uploading under a data network (it will require an offer with many Internet gigs), the size of the upload (whether original photo or high quality photo) and choose the additional folders to be included in the backup ( obviously folders containing photographs or images).
By choosing the upload at original size, the storage space will not be unlimited but will be based on the capacity of our Google Drive (basic 15 GB).
To learn more about Google Photos, we invite you to read our guide dedicated to how to use Google Photos and all its automatic and manual functions .
Amazon Photos
Another service that allows you to save photos on an unlimited cloud space is Amazon Photos, available as an app for Android and iOS.
For all Amazon Prime customers, the storage space is unlimited, at the quality chosen by the app; a good incentive to keep the Prime subscription active, since otherwise Amazon offers only 5 GB of shared space with its Drive in which to save photos. To start the automatic upload of photos, simply install the app, log in with our Amazon account and choose the folders to be included in the backup on the cloud (including the folder where I end the shots taken by the camera).
If we want to discover all the benefits of Amazon Prime, we recommend reading our guide to Amazon Prime Costs and Benefits .
iCloud
iCloud is the service offered by Apple for all its iPhones, capable of saving photos taken with the camera and other personal data stored in the phone's memory to the cloud. Being integrated into the iPhone, it is not necessary to install any app: to log in to iCloud, go to the Settings app, then in the Password and Account -> iCloud path. In the new screen, simply enable the button next to the Photos item to enable automatic backup of the shots.
With iCloud we will have 5 GB available to save our photos online, but we can expand this cloud space by subscribing to one of the subscriptions offered by Apple; the cheapest starts at € 1 per month for 50GB, enough space to save a large number of photos online. Unfortunately, in order to make the most of it, we will have to shell out something, in full Apple philosophy; luckily Google Photos and Amazon Photos also work very well on the iPhone and can replace iCloud without problems.
To learn more about iCloud and how to make the most of it (also to see the backup of your photos from PC), we refer you to reading our guide on How iCloud works for photos, address book and backup on iPhone and iPad .
Other cloud services to upload photos automatically
The ones we have shown you are undoubtedly the most used services to automatically save photos online, without the need to manually upload them.
However, other services are available that offer the possibility to upload photos taken with the camera, offering more or less free space depending on the service chosen or the registration methods used.
Below we can find a list with alternative cloud services to upload photos automatically:
- Dropbox: one of the longest lasting services, as well as being one of the first to clear the utility of cloud services for mobile devices. It currently offers 2 GB for free, but they can be increased by carrying out particular activities or by inviting new friends to take advantage of the service.
- Microsoft OneDrive: Microsoft's cloud service offers the possibility to upload photos taken directly to its cloud, so that it can be used with all modern Microsoft products (from Windows 10 to Office 365). It currently offers 5 GB of free space, which can be expanded by subscribing to an Office 365 subscription.
- MEGA: cloud service born from the ashes of the old Megaupload, which offers 50 GB of usable space to automatically save photos online from your smartphone. It is currently one of the best services for the space offered and for the security of the data saved online, although lately it has also introduced a bandwidth limit that can be used with the free account (if we exceed this level of bandwidth, we will not be able to download or load anything until at the end of the month).
- pCloud: a little unknown service that offers a high security standard and 10 GB of free online space, with which it is possible to save a large quantity of photographs.
In another article we saw the Best Cloud services together with free online space, while in another we showed you how all the ways to encrypt files uploaded to cloud storage, so we can protect them in case we do not trust the service of cloud storage chosen.
