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Services make storage easy
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SHOOT enough photos and videos, and your phone will eventually fill up. Many phones don’t let you add storage, and moving images to a personal computer is complicated for many people.
Help comes from Yahoo and Apple. Yahoo’s Flickr and Apple’s iCloud Photo Library will automatically transfer photos and videos to your online account, so you get a backup and more space on your device.
Flickr
Flickr offers virtually unlimited online storage for free with 1 terabyte; or, as Yahoo puts it, about five photos a day for the next 60 years. For many people, that generosity has sat unused, so Yahoo released tools this month to automate image transfers.
With Flickr’s app for iPhones, iPads and Android devices, old and new images alike are automatically copied to your online account. Free up space by deleting the original files from your phone. You’ll still be able to edit and share images through Flickr’s app, and you can retrieve the originals from Flickr anytime.
Meanwhile, Flickr’s software for Mac and Windows computers will continually scan and upload images, including ones you add later.
Regardless of the source, all photos and videos are viewable in one collection through a Web browser or Flickr’s mobile app. The newest images are on top, but you can use Flickr’s smart sorting tools under its “Magic View.” Software analyzes and categorizes images based on what’s in them, such as food and flowers. A search tool lets you filter by such attributes as colors in the picture and the image’s orientation.
iCloud photo library
Launched last month, iCloud Photo Library is Apple’s way of unifying your photo collection online. It works with Apple’s Photos app for organizing and editing those images on Mac and mobile devices.
Apple keeps a full-resolution version online while downgrading what’s on your device when space is low. You get the original back when you need it. Otherwise, it’s not taking up as much space. All this is automatic, so you don’t need to mess with deleting originals and potentially deleting the wrong ones.
You’re limited to Apple devices — iPhones, iPads and Macs — and you’re charged for storage once you hit 5 gigabytes, or roughly 3,000 photos. It costs 99 US cents a month for 20 gigabytes, though you might need more if your phone is already full.
Unlike Flickr, Apple can sort images based on specific individuals in them, though it doesn’t do object recognition, such as automatically identifying a dog in a picture. Unlike Flickr, Apple can handle RAW file formats favored by many professionals with high-end cameras. It’s not an issue, though, if you’re just shooting with the phone.
And the rest ...
With Google’s Auto Backup and Amazon’s Cloud Drive, you have to upload photos from PCs manually. Automatic transfers are limited to Apple and Android phones. Google offers free unlimited storage in a reduced resolution. Otherwise, full-resolution images count toward a free allotment shared with Gmail and other Google services. Amazon’s Cloud Drive is US$12 a year — waived for members of its US$99-a-year Prime service. That gives you unlimited photo storage only. It’s US$60 a year if you want unlimited videos, too.
With all of these services, images are kept private until you specific otherwise. Flickr is the only one that’s truly free and compatible with multiple systems. But if you have an Apple device and don’t mind paying, iCloud Photo Library is the easier one to use.
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