Google Photos finally stops pretending its compressed photos are ‘high quality’

Are you planning to stick with Google Photos when its free unlimited storage disappears on June 1st? If you’re anything like me, you’re probably still struggling to figure out whether you can afford to procrastinate that decision a little bit longer — and today, Google has made that reckoning a little bit easier.

First off, the company’s finally telling it like it is: Google will no longer pretend its compressed, lower-quality photos and videos are “High quality,” something that would have saved me a lengthy explanation just last week! (After June 1st, existing Google Pixel phone owners still get unlimited “High quality” photos, but if you’re on, say, a Samsung or iPhone instead, it’s not like there was ever a “Normal quality” photo that doesn’t count against the new 15GB limit.)

Bye “high,” hello “saver”

Soon, “Storage saver” will be the name for Google’s normal-quality photos, formerly known as “High quality.” You’ll be able to upload at either the “Storage saver” or “Original quality” tiers, both of which will count against your storage quota, with “Original quality” using more data.

What if you’ve already got 10GB worth of Gmail and 2GB of documents stored in a Google Drive like yours truly, leaving just 3GB left for photos before you’ll need to pay? First off, know that your existing “High quality” photos before June 1st don’t count against the quota — but also, Google has a new tool to help…

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