Google Drive question

[DaveM]

I would like to use Google Drive as a place to move photos from a phone to in order to free up phone space. I don't want to sync between the phone (or any other device) and Google Drive, just want to store the photos there. Down the road I will likely want to move more photos to Google Drive.

Can Google Drive be used like this? When I delete the photos from the phone I don't want to find out that they deleted from Google Drive too!

Also, will the Exif information be lost when I upload the photos to Google Drive? I don't want all the photos to end up with the data that they were moved to Google Drive.

 

[Navanta Otio]

I don't think this will be. You can store your all photos onto google drive then if you delete your phone photos no problem at all. You'll get your all photos onto Gogole Drive if needed.

 

[J. A.]

It's possible to get your images to Google Drive without problem. No idea if the EXIF data are stored there. When you remove the images from your Photos app, they'll still be in Google Drive.

Uploading photos will be easier, if you use Google Photos. You're able to set it to upload new images from your Photos app automatically, as soon as you open the Google Photos app. The EXIF information will not be lost. When you import them back to your iPhone, you can see them again. Also, Google Photos will show some of the details.

 

[DaveM]

It's possible to get your images to Google Drive without problem. No idea if the EXIF data are stored there. When you remove the images from your Photos app, they'll still be in Google Drive.

Uploading photos will be easier, if you use Google Photos. You're able to set it to upload new images from your Photos app automatically, as soon as you open the Google Photos app. The EXIF information will not be lost. When you import them back to your iPhone, you can see them again. Also, Google Photos will show some of the details.

Thanks for the replies. Is using Google Photos to do this better than using the Google Drive app?

 

[J. A.]

It's easier to use the GooglePhotos app. It's part of Google Drive - if you open the Google Drive app, and go to it's settings, you'll find Google Photos as well.
GooglePhotos is just for managing your images - uploading, putting them into collections, remove pictures already uploaded to GooglePhotos from the Photos app with just a few taps, ...

Try both apps, then decide which one you prefer.

 

[DaveM]

Thanks so much J. A.

 

[J. A.]

You're welcome.

 

[DaveM]

J.A., do you happen to know if the GooglePhotos app will show an indication that uploads are in progress or finished? If I start uploading a large quantity of photos I'd like to know when it's completed.

 

[J. A.]

In the app, if you tap the three lines next to Photos, at the top left:

You'll find the Assistant:

When you tap it, it usually shows how many images still have to be backed up (... items left), and the progress of the image that's loaded at the moment:

The blue line is the progress bar.

 

[DaveM]

Great! Thanks again J.A.

 

[DaveM]

Sorry for all the questions. As a follow-up, after the initial upload, if I want to move photos to Google Drive manually (not automatically as soon as I take them), is there a way to do that? If so, how would I know what's been uploaded?

 

[J. A.]

No problem.
The Drive app has a Recent folder/tab where you can see what has been uploaded recently:

 

[J. A.]

To manually upload images from your Photos app, select the images you wish to export to Google Drive, then tap the Share button at the bottom, left

If you allowed Google Drive to access your images, it will appear here:

Tap it. The next page will look like this:

The files are "Waiting", tap Upload to get them to Google Drive, or choose My Drive, then select a folder, and tap "Save Here".

 

[DaveM]

So there are no options for automatic vs manual upload? I don't have to be concerned that it may be set to just automatically upload new photos?

 

[J. A.]

It's possible to backup the images automatically. That's a setting you would have to enable, in both apps.
This one's in Google Drive (on my iPhone):

Disabled, as you see, so the images don't load to the app automatically. I'm uploading images to GooglePhotos automatically, that's why it looks like this: