The app I chose to review is one that in my profession is very helpful! Google Photos is an app that allows users to store their videos and pictures in the cloud using a Gmail account. Google Photos offers unlimited storage for users to save their precious moments. Working at T-Mobile, I do a lot of troubleshooting for customers, and there are times that a device needs to be completely wiped, and if the user isn’t prepared, they may lose all their photos. We always help the customer setup Google Photos if they don’t have a cloud service already.
One of my favorite features about Google Photos is the photo assistant. Google Photos scans your images and looks for ways to stylize photos. For example, here’s a picture of my niece and Google Photos automatically enhanced the image and provided a black and white background to make her pop! Isn’t she the sweetest!!
Also, if there are multiple shots of the same subject Google Photos will piece them together and make an animation.
Here’s a link to an example of my son opening a birthday present.
The scary/cool part is that Google Photos does this automatically. In this connected world, it’s expected that our information is scanned and with the right protections our data can be safe, so try not to worry too much. The user can also go in and select the picture they want to edit and adjust themselves, allowing the user to use decent photo editing tools.
The app is well designed and easy to use. I’m sure Google works hard to ensure that its users continue using their products.
Overall, Google Photos is a great app for the average photo taker. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to make sure items like your photos and videos are backed-up and Google Photos is perfect for this need. It’s also fun to play around with the editing feature, and it’s always nice to get a random alert from Google Photos letting me know they’ve created a new animation or stylized photo.
As for the recommendations I have, the first one that comes to mind is for Google to clearly explain what they do with the information uploaded to the could. If photos are being scanned to offer automatic stylization, then that info of what’s in the picture is being recorded in some way as well as location data for the images. Another recommendation and this is something specific to my job, but I wish Google would automatically set Google Photos to backup all pictures and videos on new Android phones. If the user doesn’t go in and turn that feature on, their information isn’t backed-up which can lead to a miserable experience for the customer if their phone malfunctions and their data isn’t saved. Again, I can see where this could be a privacy issue because the user may not want their information automatically backed up, but Google could have a pop up that asks the user if they want that turned on during phone setup. My last recommendation would be for Google to create a way to take photos through the Google Photo app and apply filters and changes instantly. Most people use their phone camera app to take pictures but Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat all use similar technology and adding a similar feature would make Google Photos more interactive.
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