The app is built into Windows 10 on both desktop and phone, but there also are apps available for Mac, Android and iOS. Heavy users of Windows will find OneDrive useful and simple to use. Photos supports extensions, so developers can add in new features, but those who have their own editing suite in mind may not enjoy being locked into Apple’s offering.
The software can also detect faces and tag people automatically, making it easy to call up all pictures of one person in a collection. On both desktop and mobile, Photos offers the same essential editing tools for making adjustments, and edits are transferred across all devices so work can continue on the move. The app has two options: “Download Originals” saves all photos to the device storage in their original quality, but “Optimize Storage” will compress photos that download to the device to avoid taking up space, with the originals staying untouched in the cloud.
There’s also a website and a Windows app, but the app is kind of clunky and not as straightforward as it is on Mac. The iCloud-powered photo library means using the Photos app on all devices, including the Mac and iPhone. It’s also flexible on price, too: Apple automatically suggests the cheapest iCloud subscription that’s able to hold all photos in a library, avoiding unnecessary overspending. Take a photo on an iPhone, or transfer photos from a camera to a Mac, and it appears on all other devices logged into the same iCloud account. In classic Apple style, it couldn’t be simpler. It’s either spending $99 a year for a terabyte, or opting for a small amount of free space. On the downside, it’s not so flexible on pricing. Backup is also a breeze: just drag and drop the files to an external drive. That means Adobe Lightroom lovers don’t have to start from scratch and lose their edits. It will also work with all kinds of files, not just photos, which is a plus.īecause of its design, Dropbox allows users to bring along any photo editing program they want. On the smartphone side, the Dropbox app automatically uploads new photos when they’re taken. The app detects when a new file is added, and uploads it. It’s incredibly simple: point the app at the photos folder, and it does all the work. Those who already have an organized system of photos and folders will want to look at Dropbox. Here are five big-name options that, depending on your needs, might be the ideal solution.ĭropbox (2GB free, 1TB $9.99/month or $99/year) One gigabyte holds around 400 photos, and if you’re looking to back up only around that many, you may not need to spend any money at all. One terabyte may sound great, but that’s around 400,000 photos at 12 megapixels. Others automatically upload smartphone pictures as soon as they are taken, which means not worrying about shifting around files back and forth.Īnother thing to bear in mind is storage sizes.
Some make it easier to download pictures for offline storage, a crucial fail-safe. Some cloud services come with editing software, while others ask users to bring their own. Here's a look at some of the best options and what they offer. And there’s nothing more irreplaceable than photos, so it’s a good idea to get those backed up online.
Cloud backup storage is vital for protecting your digital heirlooms against house fires, burglaries, or ransomware like last week’s Mac Transmission attack.