Google Photos vs HTC Gallery photo apps?

[Hiroshi15]

Google Photos vs HTC Gallery photo apps

Sorry to start another "photo app" thread but none of the searches I have done so far have answered this question (2 parts):

- is there a way to disable either the Google or Gallery photo apps so that there are not duplicate photos created in both apps every time I use the camera, and

- how do I change the file path for "downloaded" photos from MMS? My old HTC mini would send ANY downloaded photos/videos from MMS messages or the web directly to the Gallery app. Now, with the HTC M8...these files go to "file manager/download". From there the files can then be saved to gallery or Dropbox or shared or whatever but this seems like an unnecessary extra step. Ideas?

 

[Bruce39]

Re: Google Photos vs HTC Gallery photo apps

The "photo app" is Google's backup - app on phone connected to Google Drive. They give you 15 Gigs of free storage for music & photos.
Why not take advantage? In settings on photo app you can change all of the sync settings. I can access "ALL" pictures taken from 2 phones & 2 tablets on each device plus laptop & computer.

I believe on my old Note 3, I could choose which folders in file manager were shown in Gallery (choose in settings) & on G4 I believe all images on phone are in gallery (could not find any choice in settings). All images should be in Photos, even those deleted in the Gallery app.

 

[Mooncatt]

Re: Google Photos vs HTC Gallery photo apps

What you are likely seeing isn't duplicate photos, but the two different apps are simply displaying the same photo from the same location. It's kind of like having a picture stored on a computer with two monitors and viewing it from either monitor. You haven't created a duplicate photo, only changed the method in which you view it.

The photos app does have a backup function (unlimited storage if you allow their optimizing/compression for anything over 16MP), which could show pics from either the phone or cloud. You do have to be careful deleting photos via Google's Photos app, because it can delete the backups unless you specify to only delete the device copy.

The photos you take or download aren't saved to an app per se. The apps like Gallery are only viewing files. You can set them to save into any folder you want if it's an option you can set in the originating app (I know Handcent has this option for MMS for example). If you create a new folder, the gallery app will see it and give you a new album displaying the pics in said folder. But again, it's not creating duplicate pics, only displaying the new ones you just saved into whatever folder you specified.

 

[Hiroshi15]

Ok, understood that the google photo app is merely a backup for gallery so no issues there but I'm still not clear by your responses how to send downloaded media DIRECTLY to the Gallery app. "You can set them to save into any folder you want if it's an option"...ok, so how do I do this? Thanks.

 

[Mooncatt]

...but I'm still not clear by your responses how to send downloaded media DIRECTLY to the Gallery app. "You can set them to save into any folder you want if it's an option"...ok, so how do I do this? Thanks.

The Gallery app isn't storing anything, it only reads and displays pictures stored on the phone and sd card. So there's no way to "send" anything to it. There are methods to limit which pics it will display by using hidden folders and ".nomedia" files, but that's almost another topic in itself.

Typically, most apps will save to the regular "Downloads" folder on the internal storage. Others will either have their own file paths to store their new files (common with photo editing apps), or ask you where to save files. If the storage location can be changed, it should be located in the settings of the apps you are using. Every app will have a different layout of its settings options, but it shouldn't be hard to find the save options if available. Starting with Lollipop, Android limits sd card access, preventing third party apps and file managers from freely moving things around on the card. If you're having issues like that, you may have to set the app's save location to the internal storage, then use the stock file manager to move them where you want on the sd card.

I know I'm speaking in generalities, but hopefully it helps. I don't think you're getting duplicate pictures from what you've described, but is there something else specific you're having issues with? I.e. A certain app giving you problems when trying to save. If you can give more detail on the problem, then we can offer better answers to your situation.