I do that as well (Android user, so it's pretty much the default), but aside from not having to pay Google, there isn't a meaningful difference here: it's just trading one company's propriety cloud backup for another's.

There’s a giant difference. The claim is that Apple restricts other companies from providing cloud backup of photos. Google Photos proves this is incorrect.

> The claim is that Apple restricts other companies from providing cloud backup of photos.

No, the claim is Apple makes it difficult to bulk download/export photos using Apple software with non-Apple hardware.

Google's data interoperability is quite good though (Takeout). That was something Google did right 10+ years ago and I'm glad it hasn't died on the vine (and will probably see more development now, what with all this antitrust in the air).

Do you have to open the Google Photos app to sync or you set it and forget it, like take a photo and in a few moments its available everywhere?

You have to open it at least every few days. Only Apple apps can work reliably on iOS.

That is an excellent example of Apple's anti-trust behavior.

I’ve never once noticed this. I go weeks without opening Google Photos app, but my photos are always there.

Set and forget. All my phone photos are “just there” in Google Photos app and on web.

You can just let it run.

Unless things have changed, yes but no. You have to leave the app running, and turn off display sleep/lock so the phone is always awake. Which practically means it has to be plugged in. It's a major pain. As someone else commented, a classic example of Apple limiting background sync in the name of "stability and battery life". That has a grain of truth to it, but let users make that choice!

a) this is a great solution, and b) I caught that reference

I believe Google Photos visibly downgrades the quality of your images, so it is not a viable option if you care about preserving the originals.

You have the option to turn that on or off.

Oh, good to know. Does it preserve the original file exactly?

I think so. The site says

>Original quality - Store photos & videos with no change to their quality

>Storage saver - Store more at a slightly reduced quality

but I haven't really checked.

It did seem to not preserve some of the special iphone format stuff like if you edit a photo on an iphone it keeps the original and the edit wheras on google photos I just got the edited image.

Yes, but of course, that takes more data without their compression and one eventually has to pay more for storage as expected, but at least that option is there.

The parent post wanted to export their photos, not send them to Google. Why does Google need to be part of this equation?