Before technology companies were forced by lawmakers to offer greater data portability options in the United States and elsewhere, Apple was proactive and began offering a new option on its data and privacy website. Follow along to see how to directly transfer Photos from iCloud to Google Photos and other compatible services that should be launched in the future.
Background
When GDPR was enacted in the EU in May 2018, Apple launched its data and privacy portal for users to view and download their data. The appeal then reached the U.S. and Canada, the United States, Australia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland in October 2018.
Now, in an update to its data and privacy tools, Apple has launched a feature to directly transfer photos from iCloud to Google Photos (videos too). Google Photos is the only participating service for now, but others should be made available over time.
Notably, switching from iCloud Photos to Google Photos will be less attractive, as the latter will end unlimited free storage in June 2021. But there are still a variety of use cases that will remain around.
Another detail to keep in mind, transferring photos from iCloud to Google Photos with this new tool from Apple will not delete anything from iCloud, but will just make a copy and transfer directly to Google Photos. In addition, smart albums, Live Photos and some RAW files will not be transferred (but it looks like the static version of your Live Photos will be transferred correctly).
How to transfer photos from iCloud directly to Google Photos
Apple notes that you need to make sure that:
- You are using iCloud Photos to store photos and videos with Apple
- Your Apple ID uses two-factor authentication
- You have a Google account to use Google Photos
- Your Google account has enough storage available to complete the transfer
If you are ready for this, then:
- Go to the Apple data and privacy login page (https://privacy.apple.com)
- Sign in with the Apple ID you want to transfer photos and videos from iCloud
- In the third option, “Transfer a copy of your data”, click “Request to transfer a copy of your data”
- From the drop-down menu, choose Google Photos as the download destination
- Choose whether to transfer photos, videos or both, click Continue
- Confirm that you have enough storage space on Google Photos
- Sign in to your Google account to which you want to transfer your iCloud photos / videos
- Allow Apple to add photos and videos to your Google Photos account
- Finally, check your data and press the “Confirm transfer” button
Apple says the process takes 3 to 7 days, and you will receive a confirmation email when it is complete. Here is a detailed look at the process:
Follow the instructions to confirm that you have enough space with Google Photos to transfer.
When you get to a login prompt, enter the email address of the Google account you want to send the photos and video to (this is a bit confusing, as the graphic almost makes it look like Apple is requesting your login) Apple ID).
The last two steps allow Apple to upload its content to Google Photos and a final confirmation:
For all the fine print of how this feature works, check out the Apple support document, but here are some of the highlights:
- The transfer includes copies of photos and videos that you store in iCloud Photos, associated with your Apple ID. The formats include: .jpg, .png, .webp, .gif, some RAW files, .mpg, .mod, .mmv, .tod, .wmv, .asf, .avi, .divx, .mov, .m4v, . 3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .m2t, .m2ts, .mts and .mkv files.
- Only the most recent edition of the photo is transferred and not the original version. Duplicates appear as just a photo.
- Whenever possible, photos are transferred with their albums. Videos are transferred separately, without their albums.
- Once uploaded to Google, album and video file names begin with “Copy from”.
- Some content – including shared albums, smart albums, photo stream content, live photos, some metadata and photos and videos stored in other folders or locations – is not transferred in any way.
How to transfer your Apple data to other services
For now, Google is the only partner participating in Apple’s iCloud direct photo transfer option. But it looks like Apple will add more options in the future. This could include direct transfers to different types of data from Apple in addition to iCloud Photos.
However, you can manually download and move your data to any service you want. Follow our step by step on this:
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