Many people will have to make a difficult decision in late summer, when Google removes support for unlimited Google Photo storages, but the current Pixel owners are not one of them.
With the next move to Google Photos, anyone with more than 15 GB of photos or videos will be forced to move their data elsewhere or pay Google for additional storage space. However, in a recent Twitter update, a Google Photos project manager, Raja Ayygari, posted an update announcing that HQ uploads (photos below 16 MP) of “Pixels 2-5 will continue to be free and unlimited after June 1st”.
In essence, this would mean that anyone who owns a Pixel smartphone now (except for Pixel 1, RIP owners) could retain unlimited photo storage for the rest of their device’s life. Unfortunately, it looks like this luxury will not extend to future devices, so anyone planning to buy a Pixel 5a or later will not be so lucky.
While the extension of unlimited storage on Google Photos for Pixel owners may seem like a small change, it’s a good concession for those who bought homemade Google phones, as unlimited photo storage was one of the original advantages of these devices.
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About that, for non-Pixel owners who will need to upgrade, Google recently added some extra editing features to Google Photos for people who pay for more storage space via Google One, which includes Portrait Blur, Portrait Lighting, Dynamic Suggestions and more.
Oh, and in case you decide to be tricky and try to trick Google into giving you free photo storage by buying an old Pixel and adding it to your account, that won’t work either, as Ayyagari noted that “uploads from other devices, including Future pixels will count towards the storage of your Google account. “
Also, judging by the language in Ayyagari’s tweet, it doesn’t look like that bonus will ever return, so although the privilege has been good for a while, all the good has to end eventually.