S22 Ultra Google Photos dilemma

[philliplavelle]

Disclaimer: this might (probably is) be a stupid question. Forgive me. But hope somebody has the answer!

I preordered my s22 Ultra 512gb yesterday morning but hastily spent my free credit on stuff I didn’t need and not the watch which I wanted so ended up wasting $229 buying it on Amazon. Bah.

I just returned to Samsung.com and they’re still offering credit, so I placed an order for the 256gb model which is unbelievably still in stock and shipping on Feb 25. Yay. And I was able to almost cover the cost of the Watch 4 with the free credit.

So here’s my question:

For the last few years, I’ve been running an iPhone at 256GB (including now with the 13 Pro) and 256 is plenty enough. Usually have about 100GB space spare.

But iOS has a great way of optimising space so when you take photos and video, it just uploads it straight to iCloud and is pretty much always accessible. Google photos does the same.

If I go for the 256gb model S22 Ultra, can I do the same on Android? I have Googled this issue but most of the articles I see relate to pixel devices, and I wanna be sure that Samsung will do this flawlessly.

I shoot most of my vids in 4K so will I be able to have my Sammy upload and delete all my photos and HQ vids from the phone automatically to Google Photos then delete the massive files from local storage like iOS does with Apple Photos?

(I remember from past dalliances that Samsung tried to push me towards OneDrive etc but not interested in that. I have Google for everything else and just want to make sure I'm not going to run out of space in weeks!)

(I could stick with my 512gb order but then I've wasted the credit and can't order that phone now as that storage model is outta stock)

Thanks in advance folks.

 

[bhatech]

You can use Google photos on any platform so no yes you can use it to back up your photos and videos on your S22. You can free up local space by going to Google photos settings and select free up space if you need. Do note you have the option to select what quality you want Google photos to upload your photos/videos in. Personally I pay for Google One subscription and it's worth it. I also have iCloud subscription on my iPhone and on my iPhone it uploads automatically to iCloud and Google photos. There are subtle differences between iCloud photos and Google photos work when you are deleting photos. Google them and you should find more info on that.

 

[philliplavelle]

You can use Google photos on any platform so no yes you can use it to back up your photos and videos on your S22. You can free up local space by going to Google photos settings and select free up space if you need. Do note you have the option to select what quality you want Google photos to upload your photos/videos in. Personally I pay for Google One subscription and it's worth it. I also have iCloud subscription on my iPhone and on my iPhone it uploads automatically to iCloud and Google photos. There are subtle differences between iCloud photos and Google photos work when you are deleting photos. Google them and you should find more info on that.

This is wonderful. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply and post that screenshot. I do have Google One, luckily.

Does the settings option in Android let you do that ‘free local space’ thing automatically? So you flick it on and then it just forevermore uploads your photos/videos in high quality but a) deletes them from Samsung Gallery and b) leaves a small preview in Google Photos app which then downloads if you open the particular photo?

Or is this option something you have to go to manually periodically to do when your phone is starting to fill up?

What I’m trying to get at is can I just let it get on with things without worrying like i do with Apple Photos and iCloud or will I have to keep manually freeing up space through the settings?

Thanks again.

 

[bhatech]

This is wonderful. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply and post that screenshot. I do have Google One, luckily.

Does the settings option in Android let you do that ‘free local space’ thing automatically? So you flick it on and then it just forevermore uploads your photos/videos in high quality but a) deletes them from Samsung Gallery and b) leaves a small preview in Google Photos app which then downloads if you open the particular photo?

Or is this option something you have to go to manually periodically to do when your phone is starting to fill up?

What I’m trying to get at is can I just let it get on with things without worrying like i do with Apple Photos and iCloud or will I have to keep manually freeing up space through the settings?

Thanks again.

I think you'll have to manually do that. Not like iCloud though where it optimizes storage automatically.