Along with the Brazil-centric updates that Google has announced to its Allo and Duo messaging apps, and the news that Google Maps users will soon be able to share their location and travel progress with any contact, the company has made another important announcement, this time referring to its Google Photos application.
The new version of Google Photos has added two new functions that improve and speed up the backup and sharing of photos when the internet connection is low. Additionally, version 2.11 has also seen a slight UI improvement when backups are in progress.
“Google Photos: Faster backup and sharing, regardless of connection”
Google Photos is one of the best applications that exist to store and share our photos and videos on both Android and iOS devices. Its unlimited storage capacity in the big G cloud that allows us to have our images always available, or the fact that it is the app itself that is responsible for creating collages, videos, etc., are just some of the advantages that are now available. They complete by facilitating backups and image competition in those moments when the quality of the connection is conspicuous by its absence.
These announced improvements for Google Photos are achieved by first uploading a “light preview” of the image when connectivity is slower or weaker. This version will be the one used for an initial backup and also to create the shared link that can be shown to friends and family.
When the device finds a better Wi-Fi connection, then the high-quality version of the image will be backed up, permanently replacing the low-resolution version in the library. Furthermore, future clicks on the shared URL will also display the full image in high quality.
We created Google Photos to help people easily store, organize, and share photos and videos. But sometimes it can be difficult to backup and share photos and videos, especially when you’re on the go and don’t have an internet connection. So today we are launching two new features on Android and iOS to make backup and sharing easier on low connectivity. Now your photos will be automatically backed up in lightweight preview qualitywhich is fast on 2G connections and still looks great on a smartphone. And when a good Wi-Fi connection is available, your backup photos will be replaced with high-quality versions. We are also making it easy to share many photos at once, even with low connectivity. It doesn’t matter if you’re at the beach or hiking in the mountains, with Google Photos you can now quickly share images even with a spotty connection by sending in low resolution first so your friends and family can see them right away. Later they will be updated in higher resolution when connectivity allows it.
Due to its recent advancements in data and image compression, Google has noted that the light preview quality of the image still “looks great” on smartphones.
Visual enhancements
Additionally, Google Photos version 2.11 also incorporates some minor visual changes to the backup interface. Previously, each photo that was being backed up displayed a spinning indicator in the bottom corner to report that it was being uploaded. However, now at the top of the screen, a small circular pill will be displayed that informs whether all the photos are already backed up or how many are still being sent to the cloud.
Touching or pulling down will display a preview of the current backup image.
All these novelties are already being deployed for both Android and iOS.