[Kalvin Kerns]

Good Morning. Quick question for all you pros about Cloud services.

Since android fails miserably at sending HD video via text I'm thinking I want to upload them to a cloud service and text links instead.

I tried Google Drive last night and it seemed to take forever to upload a one minute hd video over wifi. It did work though. Maybe I need to play with some settings I don't know, but it seemed kind of slow.

The free 15gbs I have on there will not hold many hd videos so I was wondering if it was worth buying more or should I go with a different service like One Drive? I have access to the free 100 gbs they have out with the S6.

I guess just what service is best for uploading hd video so I can send links to folks via text, and that will be easy to use?

Posted via the Android Central App

[Zendroid1]

Good Morning. Quick question for all you pros about Cloud services.

Since android fails miserably at sending HD video via text I'm thinking I want to upload them to a cloud service and text links instead.

I tried Google Drive last night and it seemed to take forever to upload a one minute hd video over wifi. It did work though. Maybe I need to play with some settings I don't know, but it seemed kind of slow.

The free 15gbs I have on there will not hold many hd videos so I was wondering if it was worth buying more or should I go with a different service like One Drive? I have access to the free 100 gbs they have out with the S6.

I guess just what service is best for uploading hd video so I can send links to folks via text, and that will be easy to use?

Posted via the Android Central App

If you can find a good answer to this, my quest from iOS to Android will be much smoother. This is the ONE main thing making it hard to make a permanent switch from iOS. I will subscribe to this thread!

[SpookDroid]

Just remember guys, iOS DOESN'T send HD video via Text (or MMS, rather). iMessage is NOT SMS/MMS, and it's the one thing Apple did right and wrong. It integrated the function so well into iMessage that iUsers think iMessage is normal texting, when it's not. iMessages run through a different protocol, pretty much like Hangouts or Facebook Messenger.

That being said, the best storage for HD video is YouTube!!!!!! Doesn't count against your Drive quota, you can send the link and keep it private, or you can post it and make it public.

[Bradskey]

The ability to upload is more a function of your Internet connection upload speed than which cloud service you are using. Upload speed is generally slower than download unless you're on a nice FiOS connection or something. I like Dropbox because the Android client will actually stream video directly from your cloud storage to your device for playback (I wish it did the same for mp3 files). I'm not sure if OneDrive does the same with video streaming or not.

If you're thinking of purchasing storage DropBox is $99/yr for a terabyte. OneDrive is a slightly better value, because you can get an Office 365 personal subscription for only $69 I think, which includes Office AND a terabyte of OneDrive storage. I would test out its video streaming capabilities before buying. But even the free 100GB of OneDrive included with the S6 can hold several short HD videos.

[Kalvin Kerns]

Just remember guys, iOS DOESN'T send HD video via Text (or MMS, rather). iMessage is NOT SMS/MMS, and it's the one thing Apple did right and wrong. It integrated the function so well into iMessage that iUsers think iMessage is normal texting, when it's not. iMessages run through a different protocol, pretty much like Hangouts or Facebook Messenger.

That being said, the best storage for HD video is YouTube!!!!!! Doesn't count against your Drive quota, you can send the link and keep it private, or you can post it and make it public.

Doesn't matter what protocol it is behind the scenes, ios users send hd videos via text (text = mms for all intents and purposes). It's easy and seamless and I miss it big time from when I used an iPhone.

Now that I have kids is very important that I capture good video and can send it quickly and easily to family.

I'll give YouTube a try, thank you.

Posted via the Android Central App

[Kalvin Kerns]

The ability to upload is more a function of your Internet connection upload speed than which cloud service you are using. Upload speed is generally slower than download unless you're on a nice FiOS connection or something. I like Dropbox because the Android client will actually stream video directly from your cloud storage to your device for playback (I wish it did the same for mp3 files). I'm not sure if OneDrive does the same with video streaming or not.

If you're thinking of purchasing storage DropBox is $99/yr for a terabyte. OneDrive is a slightly better value, because you can get an Office 365 personal subscription for only $69 I think, which includes Office AND a terabyte of OneDrive storage. I would test out its video streaming capabilities before buying. But even the free 100GB of OneDrive included with the S6 can hold several short HD videos.

Thx Brad, I will keep that advice in case Youtube doesn't work for my needs. I'm a little leery of using YouTube for my purposes for obvious privacy reasons, but I'm going to give it a shot.

Posted via the Android Central App

[SpookDroid]

BTW, if you use Google Photos' backup feature (not Drive, although they're working on making those appear on Drive as well), FullHD videos less than 15 minutes long will also not count against your Drive quota and are a bit more private than YouTube. You can still share them with a link, too.

The advantage of saving to YouTube is that you can watch them pretty much anywhere, even SmartTVs, so that makes things better when watching vacation videos and stuff.

[Zendroid1]

I understand that iMessage is not SMS/MMS but why do my videos sent from iOS to iOS come out better than a video sent from Google Hangout to Google Hangouts? The one's in hangouts seem very compressed/grainy etc when sending from Android to iPhone (but both on hangouts).

[SpookDroid]

I understand that iMessage is not SMS/MMS but why do my videos sent from iOS to iOS come out better than a video sent from Google Hangout to Google Hangouts? The one's in hangouts seem very compressed/grainy etc when sending from Android to iPhone (but both on hangouts).

That I wouldn't know. I don't usually send files via IM (which, by the way is the correct term for iMessages, not texting :P) but it's entirely possible that, just like services like Whatsapp, Hangouts compresses videos sent through their service and aren't actually sending the actual video file like, I'm guessing, iMessage. Again, different protocols, different rules.

And don't get me wrong, I do think iMessage is vastly superior to Android messaging in general, but just like you can only send a Whatsapp to another Whatsapp user, iMessage only lets you send iMessages to other iMessage users (for other phones it switches to SMS/MMS, or in iOS terms, the green bubbles).

[Kalvin Kerns]

BTW, if you use Google Photos' backup feature (not Drive, although they're working on making those appear on Drive as well), FullHD videos less than 15 minutes long will also not count against your Drive quota and are a bit more private than YouTube. You can still share them with a link, too.

The advantage of saving to YouTube is that you can watch them pretty much anywhere, even SmartTVs, so that makes things better when watching vacation videos and stuff.

Awesome Spook! I do use auto save with G+, but I wasn't aware I could send links to the videos on their. I'll explore that option more.

Posted via the Android Central App

[Kalvin Kerns]

That I wouldn't know. I don't usually send files via IM (which, by the way is the correct term for iMessages, not texting :P) but it's entirely possible that, just like services like Whatsapp, Hangouts compresses videos sent through their service and aren't actually sending the actual video file like, I'm guessing, iMessage. Again, different protocols, different rules.

And don't get me wrong, I do think iMessage is vastly superior to Android messaging in general, but just like you can only send a Whatsapp to another Whatsapp user, iMessage only lets you send iMessages to other iMessage users (for other phones it switches to SMS/MMS, or in iOS terms, the green bubbles).

I did some reading up on this when I switched to android because I was getting highly frustrated. It seems that Apple controls their text app (I message) while the carriers control androids and limit bandwidth, if I am understanding it correctly.

Posted via the Android Central App

[Zendroid1]

If only Apple would release iMessage for Android (haha not in a million years).

[SpookDroid]

I did some reading up on this when I switched to android because I was getting highly frustrated. It seems that Apple controls their text app (I message) while the carriers control androids and limit bandwidth, if I am understanding it correctly.

Posted via the Android Central App

Not exactly. Again, this is the iMessage effect: It's NOT texting! Carriers control SMS/MMS (and not really carriers, it's a defined protocol, so it has rules and limitations... like the fact that your SMS has a character limit per message, etc.), and they do so for all phones, even iPhones.

So where's the confusion? iPhone to iPhone (or iOS to iOS, rather) messaging is switched to iMessage protocol by iOS (just like Whatsapp and others 'know' when a certain phone number has the app, the same happens with iOS), which is not governed by SMS/MMS rules because it doesn't use those protocols. It sends data packets either via mobile data or WiFi, and can be received without carrier service, where as SMS can only be received with carrier service and MMS can only be received via mobile data (with some exceptions like WiFi calling enabled services and re-routed services like Verizon using their own app). When an iOS device sends a message to a non-iOS device, it switches to SMS/MMS automatically, and if you try to send a message to another iOS user but have no data available, it will also switch to SMS/MMS automatically for that particular message. This is where the whole 'I'm not receiving texts from iPhones after switching from iOS to Android and ported my number' problem stems from, actually, because if not done properly, your phone is still registered as an iMessage device, when in reality you don't have the app.

[Kalvin Kerns]

Not exactly. Again, this is the iMessage effect: It's NOT texting! Carriers control SMS/MMS (and not really carriers, it's a defined protocol, so it has rules and limitations... like the fact that your SMS has a character limit per message, etc.), and they do so for all phones, even iPhones.

So where's the confusion? iPhone to iPhone (or iOS to iOS, rather) messaging is switched to iMessage protocol by iOS (just like Whatsapp and others 'know' when a certain phone number has the app, the same happens with iOS), which is not governed by SMS/MMS rules because it doesn't use those protocols. It sends data packets either via mobile data or WiFi, and can be received without carrier service, where as SMS can only be received with carrier service and MMS can only be received via mobile data (with some exceptions like WiFi calling enabled services and re-routed services like Verizon using their own app). When an iOS device sends a message to a non-iOS device, it switches to SMS/MMS automatically, and if you try to send a message to another iOS user but have no data available, it will also switch to SMS/MMS automatically for that particular message. This is where the whole 'I'm not receiving texts from iPhones after switching from iOS to Android and ported my number' problem stems from, actually, because if not done properly, your phone is still registered as an iMessage device, when in reality you don't have the app.

Interesting, thank you for the explanation Spook. I just wish the text apps would tell us which protocol they are using to eliminate the confusion. Although it may not really matter at all and calling it all texting works lol.

Posted via the Android Central App

[SpookDroid]

If only Apple would release iMessage for Android (haha not in a million years).

That would be awesome! And hey, never say never... Once upon a time no one thought BB Messenger would make it out of BlackBerry and everyone wanted one... Now it's made it out to all platforms and no one I know uses it (still dumbfounded by the massive numbers BlackBerry claims to have from BB Messenger downloads... you'd think you would run into at least one of those many millions! Alas, nope, not for me...)

[getbretweir]

Good Morning. Quick question for all you pros about Cloud services.

Since android fails miserably at sending HD video via text I'm thinking I want to upload them to a cloud service and text links instead.

I tried Google Drive last night and it seemed to take forever to upload a one minute hd video over wifi. It did work though. Maybe I need to play with some settings I don't know, but it seemed kind of slow.

The free 15gbs I have on there will not hold many hd videos so I was wondering if it was worth buying more or should I go with a different service like One Drive? I have access to the free 100 gbs they have out with the S6.

I guess just what service is best for uploading hd video so I can send links to folks via text, and that will be easy to use?

Posted via the Android Central App

use YouTube. it's safe, secure, easy and free. I also backup some video to Dropbox, usually things I'd be really upset about if I lost. I still use and external hard drive to.

but for sharing with friends/family YouTube is the easiest. just set it to private and you're good to go

Posted via the Android Central App

[SpookDroid]

YouTube is easy, but not exactly secure. If you set the video to Private, it won't show up in searches, but anyone with the link can access it, even if the one person you sent it to posts it somewhere else, like Facebook or Twitter.

On Google+ you can control user access (with the added nuisance that the person you send it to needs to have a Google+ account) or just send a public link. It still uses YouTube's structure though.

[Kalvin Kerns]

YouTube is easy, but not exactly secure. If you set the video to Private, it won't show up in searches, but anyone with the link can access it, even if the one person you sent it to posts it somewhere else, like Facebook or Twitter.

On Google+ you can control user access (with the added nuisance that the person you send it to needs to have a Google+ account) or just send a public link. It still uses YouTube's structure though.

Oh that's a problem. If the person I'm sending a G+ link to has to have G+, then it's definitely a no go. Dang!

Posted via the Android Central App

[Zendroid1]

For me, I'm also looking up a service where I can easily see thumbnails and flip through them like photo apps and browse/select videos that way.

I have amazon prime photos right now and it's like $50 / year for unlimited storage. I may try that out to see how it works since I like the interface.

Edit: Nevermind, Amazon is a no go. No way to copy / get links on a mobile device and send them.

[SpookDroid]

Only if you want to have user access control. If you want you can create a public link that anyone can access, just like YouTube (and just like YouTube, you can make it so that only people with the link can find the video, but with added restrictions like not being able to download the video, just view it).

You can share Google+ photos/videos directly from the Drive app as well.

[SpookDroid]

For me, I'm also looking up a service where I can easily see thumbnails and flip through them like photo apps and browse/select videos that way.

I have amazon prime photos right now and it's like $50 / year for unlimited storage. I may try that out to see how it works since I like the interface.

Edit: Nevermind, Amazon is a no go. No way to copy / get links on a mobile device and send them.

Dropbox has a dedicated Gallery app that might be what you're looking for if you use their service. For Google, you have the Photos app or you can even do that on the Drive app.

[Kalvin Kerns]

I don't see any way to share a link to a video on g+. When I hit Share it tries to send the actual video thru my text app, no option to send as a link.

Posted via the Android Central App

[SpookDroid]

From the Photos app, if you select the video, then share it with the messaging app, then yeah, it will try to attach the file itself. If you want the link form there, it will only send it to people with Google+ accounts (you should see the People option on top). If you make it Public from there, it will post it to your Google+ page and you can take the link from there. Obviously this isn't the most private way to do things.

If you, however, go to the Google Drive app and navigate to your Google Photos section there, you can select the video you want and you should see a SHARE LINK option (this actually creates a Google Drive link), and you can also decide if you want to add more people with Google accounts to your file or if you'll let anyone with the link view or edit the file or even turning the link off entirely.

[Kalvin Kerns]

From the Photos app, if you select the video, then share it with the messaging app, then yeah, it will try to attach the file itself. If you want the link form there, it will only send it to people with Google+ accounts (you should see the People option on top). If you make it Public from there, it will post it to your Google+ page and you can take the link from there. Obviously this isn't the most private way to do things.

If you, however, go to the Google Drive app and navigate to your Google Photos section there, you can select the video you want and you should see a SHARE LINK option (this actually creates a Google Drive link), and you can also decide if you want to add more people with Google accounts to your file or if you'll let anyone with the link view or edit the file or even turning the link off entirely.

Ah ok so go to photos through Drive and it will give the option to share links without me having to upload the video to Drive? Excellent. I'll try that.

Posted via the Android Central App

[SpookDroid]

Hahaha yeah, sounds confusing... But here's a bit of their (lunatic) reasoning: if you auto-backup your photos/videos to Google+, those photos and videos are shared through Google+, so they need to be 'posted', either privately (to select users; think of it of posting to someone's wall on Facebook with privacy set to only that user and you) or publicly (which lets you then copy a link to that public post).

But Google heard users (they do that some rare times) and began showing those uploaded photos and videos also in Google Drive. Now, since Drive is file-centric and not a social media app like Google+, it has more 'proper' sharing options for FILES, like direct links to the file and not a social media post.