How to Back up ICloud Photos and Videos to Google
We’ve been talking a lot lately about leaving Google Photos for other services, mainly because we were a little shocked to see this super-useful free storage service go into subscription (once you hit the 15GB storage limit for all services Google). However, this is the case. And if you still prefer the convenience of Google over, say, paying for iCloud, Apple has a new tool you can use to copy your photos and videos from a cloud service to a competitor’s service.
To get started, go to the Apple Data and Privacy website and sign in with your Apple ID. You will see a screen that looks like this:
Click on the “Request a copy of your data” link under the heading of the same name. You will then be taken to a screen where you can select the transfer destination (Google Photos) and choose that you just want to transfer your photos, videos, or both:
You will then be asked to log into your google account and allow the Apple tool to upload data to your photo library:
As part of the copy confirmation process, Apple notes that the transfer can take anywhere from three to seven days – well, digital life. You will also need enough free space in your Google account for all of your files, otherwise not everything will be backed up if or when all of your storage is full. Apple tries to give you a decent estimate of how much space you need to clear, but err on the side of “a little more than you need” rather than “right on the money” if you need to do a little data. cropping in your google account.
And you’ll also want to make sure you know what’s being transferred before you take the plunge, like deleting your Apple account (or at least all of your previously saved photos and videos). As Apple points out :
- A transfer includes copies of the photos and videos you store in iCloud Photos associated with your Apple ID. 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 revision of the photo is transferred, not the original version. Duplicates are displayed as one photo.
- If possible, photos are sent along with their albums. Videos are streamed separately, without their albums.
- Album and video file names start with “Cc” after upload to Google.
- Some content, including Shared Albums, Smart Albums, Photo Stream content, Live Photos, some metadata, and photos and videos stored in other folders or locations, are not transferred at all.
That’s a lot of conditions, so if you want to create a true archive of all the media you store in iCloud, you can use Apple’s “Get a copy of your data” option instead. Then you can decide what to upload to Google Photos and what to archive elsewhere. And, yes, that means you will be using your bandwidth for transmission, but you will have even more control over your data.
That said, if you have free space or a bogus Google account, it never hurts to do a secondary backup for most of your media.