can i disable and/or delete the google photos app from this google phone?

[walterkurtz]

when i started using this phone a week ago i used google photos to move all of my photos from my previous phones. i uploaded from my mac to the google photos website then synced to the phone. it worked. but i didn't really care much for the user interface on the phone app. and i also don't love google having all of my photos on top of everything else they know about me. anyway i downloaded a few other gallery apps yesterday and have settled on one i quite like (gallery pro).

now, can i delete google photos from my phone? will it delete all my photos? i believe i've already disabled backup within the google photos app. i don't see any way to do it on the web at http://photos.google.com/. but i would also like to delete that entire album from google's back up. i have dropbox and external drives.

if it's possible and anyone can walk me through it i would really appreciate it. or please point me to an article explaining the process. i haven't found any in my searches.

thank you!!!

 

[MNMobileGuy]

Doing a Google search for "ADB disable apps" should provide you with quite a few helpful tutorials

 

[Scott337]

You can also disable the Photos app by going into Settings > Apps > all apps. The Disable option is there for me when I tap Photos

 

[B. Diddy]

Disabling the Google Photos app will not affect your locally saved photos, nor the photos that are saved in your Google Photos cloud.

If you want to get rid of all photos in your Google Photos cloud, see if you can delete the service from your account: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/81987?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform=Desktop

 

[MNMobileGuy]

You can also disable the Photos app by going into Settings > Apps > all apps. The Disable option is there for me when I tap Photos

Do you also have a Pixel though? I had assumed that Google Photos wouldn't be able to be Disabled on a Pixel, since it would be the only preloaded gallery app

 

[Scott337]

Do you also have a Pixel though? I had assumed that Google Photos wouldn't be able to be Disabled on a Pixel, since it would be the only preloaded gallery app

Yes, a Pixel 6

 

[MNMobileGuy]

Yes, a Pixel 6

Oh okay, that's good to know

 

[B. Diddy]

Do you also have a Pixel though? I had assumed that Google Photos wouldn't be able to be Disabled on a Pixel, since it would be the only preloaded gallery app

Google Photos can be disabled on my Pixel 6 Pro.

EDIT: Oops, sorry, didn't realize at first that Scott337 was confirming that as well.

 

[anon(40376)]

Just an addition to what has already been answered. I have had Google Photos disabled on my 4XL for well over a year.

 

[walterkurtz]

Disabling the Google Photos app will not affect your locally saved photos, nor the photos that are saved in your Google Photos cloud.

If you want to get rid of all photos in your Google Photos cloud, see if you can delete the service from your account: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/81987?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform=Desktop

i'll try this. thanks!!

UPDATE: i don't see an option to delete google photos. i think i'll have to select all in photos.google.com and delete them manually. i'm going to give it a few days to make sure everything is working without google photos enabled first. i've already noticed that at least with gallery pro my most recent photos don't usually show up until i open a gallery in gallery pro. and i had an incident today where my phone wouldn't share a photo unless i enabled google photos. a restart remedied it but if that problem persists i'll be forced to keep google photos.

 

[walterkurtz]

You can also disable the Photos app by going into Settings > Apps > all apps. The Disable option is there for me when I tap Photos

i did this two days ago and it worked. thank you!

today, however, when i tried to share a photo i had just taken i was denied. within the photo app i received an error that said i could not share unless i enabled google photos. i restarted the phone and it seems ok now.

 

[Mooncatt]

i did this two days ago and it worked. thank you!

today, however, when i tried to share a photo i had just taken i was denied. within the photo app i received an error that said i could not share unless i enabled google photos. i restarted the phone and it seems ok now.

If it happens again, go into the Google Photos listing in your app manager (where you disabled it) and clear the defaults. It may be that Photos is set as a default app to share from, which could explain the sharing error. Bit of a long shot idea, though.

 

[walterkurtz]

If it happens again, go into the Google Photos listing in your app manager (where you disabled it) and clear the defaults. It may be that Photos is set as a default app to share from, which could explain the sharing error. Bit of a long shot idea, though.

thanks! if it persists, i will do this.

 

[walterkurtz]

If it happens again, go into the Google Photos listing in your app manager (where you disabled it) and clear the defaults. It may be that Photos is set as a default app to share from, which could explain the sharing error. Bit of a long shot idea, though.

sooo it's gotten worse. i keep getting warnings that i can't access photos or videos because google photos is disabled.

i went under settings > apps > photos and didn't see a clear defaults option. i did clear the cache. i also turned off? "remove permissions and free up space". despite many restarts the problem persists although inconsistently.

is there something else i should try? or are my options now:

enable google photos, but keep the sync option turned off and continue using my other gallery app?

OR start using google photos because google basically won't allow me to use another gallery app?

OR switch to iOS??

thank you!!!

 

[Mooncatt]

sooo it's gotten worse. i keep getting warnings that i can't access photos or videos because google photos is disabled.

i went under settings > apps > photos and didn't see a clear defaults option. i did clear the cache. i also turned off? "remove permissions and free up space". despite many restarts the problem persists although inconsistently.

is there something else i should try? or are my options now:

enable google photos, but keep the sync option turned off and continue using my other gallery app?

OR start using google photos because google basically won't allow me to use another gallery app?

OR switch to iOS??

thank you!!!

Earlier you said the problem was when you tried to share photos. What app were you using at the time to attempt the sharing? Most apps should allow you to select the source app to share from (I.e. Google Photos, third party gallery app, Drop Box, etc), so I'm not sure why that error was occurring in the first place. Were you trying to share via another Google app?

But now you say you can't access them at all? Does that mean if you open your third party gallery, you still get this Google Photos related error?

Something isn't adding up, so knowing the exact steps you are taking that result in this error will help us figure it out.

 

[walterkurtz]

Earlier you said the problem was when you tried to share photos. What app were you using at the time to attempt the sharing? Most apps should allow you to select the source app to share from (I.e. Google Photos, third party gallery app, Drop Box, etc), so I'm not sure why that error was occurring in the first place. Were you trying to share via another Google app?

But now you say you can't access them at all? Does that mean if you open your third party gallery, you still get this Google Photos related error?

Something isn't adding up, so knowing the exact steps you are taking that result in this error will help us figure it out.

you're right. i was unclear...

if i open the camera and take a photo i could tap on a small version of that photo on the camera screen then swipe up to share it from the camera app to whatsapp for example. that no longer works consistently.

also i was trying to share a video within signal (i may have too many messaging apps...) and was getting pop up warnings that i had to enable google photos to access photos and videos.

i think i need to enable google photos and try and forget about it. i think if i have the sync option within google photos turned off i should be able to delete all the photos and videos on the web version of google photos.

does that make sense and/or sound correct? i am trying to achieve two things:

1) use a different gallery app for looking at and organizing photos and videos on my phone
2) delete all of the photos and videos i uploaded to google when i switched phones

thank you!!

 

[B. Diddy]

Here's another option for you -- try Google's Gallery Go, which is essentially Google Photos without the cloud syncing.

 

[Mooncatt]

I do most of my sharing from my gallery app, even if I just took the photo. Not sure why Signal is giving that error, unless you originally had it set to share via Google Photos? If you originally told it to share via the photos app all the time, it may still be trying that. It would be worth trying to clear Signal's defaults, if not a full data clear (which effectively resets the app). It means setting it up again from scratch, but it could also make Signal ask again how to share.

 

[srvctec]

If you want to be able to share directly from the camera or even just tap the tiny little photo in the lower right that was just taken, then Photos must be enabled. I have it disabled and see the same things the OP has mentioned. I don't ever need to immediately share a photo I just took and just go to my 3rd party gallery app and do it that way. Actually, I just open the app I want to share it with, be it messages or whatever and then navigate to the photo I want. Been doing it that way for over a dozen years.

So, the best option would be what the OP already mentioned, just delete whatever photos you don't want synced in the web version, turn off sync for Photos, leave Photos app enabled on your phone so you can use the share feature of the camera like you want.

I got the message below just by tapping on the little circle photo in the lower right of the camera of the blurry photo I just took of my keyboard.

 

[walterkurtz]

If you want to be able to share directly from the camera or even just tap the tiny little photo in the lower right that was just taken, then Photos must be enabled. I have it disable and see the same things the OP has mentioned. I don't ever need to immediately share a photo I just took and just go to my 3rd party gallery app and do it that way. Actually, I just open the app I want to share it with, be it messages or whatever and then navigate to the photo I want. Been doing it that way for over a dozen years.

So, the best option would be what the OP already mentioned, just delete whatever photos you don't want synced, turn off sync for Photos, leave Photos enabled so you can use the share feature of the camera like you want.

I got the message below just by tapping on the little circle photo in the lower right of the camera of the blurry photo I just took of my keyboard.

that's the one! thank you