How I ditched Google Photos | Taking BACK my backups!
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- Опубліковано 2 сер 2024
- Are you itching to cut the Google Photos cord? Here's how I did it - and for less than you'd think.
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Timestamps
--
00:00 - Intro
00:30 - Why I chose my setup
04:05 - Setting up the BeeStation
08:51 - NAS or this?
09:40 - BeePhotos is Google Photos Lite
11:22 - Obvious pitfalls and downsides
12:07 - Easy to recommend (for the right audience)
12:45 - Why you might stick with Google Photos
13:14 - What is your photo storage solution?
-- - Наука та технологія
the convenience of Google photos is unbeatable
Agreed, less than a minute in and I cannot help but roll my eyes at this being nothing but a Synology ad.
@@ChrisBanda it's not about that, it's about having only 1 drive to have everything is too much risk for that use case I would like to have at least 3 or 4 copies of my photos and when you take into consideration how much time you end up wasting on the set-up and troubleshooting plus losing on the convenience the wiser choice becomes clear and that's paying for Google photos 😅
💯
I can switch to any home, custom solution, if the application would have the same features as Google Photo... but it doesn't exist.
Agree, but nowadays privacy and data ownership is a major concern.
It's good to keep an offline copy of our precious memories anyways just in case :), doesn't have to use a fancy solution.
@@holybom23 agree with privacy, but if somebody care about their online privacy must live in forest.
On the other hand, thousands of companies store their data in the cloud and it's totally OK.
lessons I learned the last 20 years...
- Always sort out bad photos/videos within minutes or at least hours. so many people have a billion photos,which they never watch again. At the end of a year there are usually only like 100 very precious moments that are really worth it.
- each perspective deserves maximum 2 perfect photos.
- never rely only on one option to safe data, two are good , three are gold
- explain to your wife&kids how to access photos of them
I'm not sure if the Beestation can replicate it's data to another NAS, but having 2 copies should be minimum if you care about the photos. It's all fun and games until you lose your files.
if you aren't worried about the privacy factor, you can try what I do -
Step 1 - Let Google Photos fill up with original quality images from 1st Jan - 31st Dec, the entire year's worth
Step 2 - Use Google Takeout and essentially you can download a zip folder of that entire year's worth of photos
Step 3 - Save 2 copies of said zip file (1 Primary and 1 Backup)
since you usually usually think about/want to see your photos of the past year or so, this works out perfectly as the photos you want, you have on demand
also, during this process, the start of a new year is usually accompanied by everything that happened last year, and I am able to see a recap of sorts while I do all this, with both the good and bad bits
this way, you only have to invest in 2 hard disks, and you'll be set for life
I used to have a 200gb monthly plan,
but recently I got 4 2tb 7200 seagate hdds (condition is excellent) from my college for free, as they recently upgraded their office computers, and slapped it into my old pc. Bought 10gb network card, setup smb and nextcloud, headless access on Linux, did port forwarding and done.
Now I have peace of mind.
This is the best thing i have done so far this year!
I use my google reward money from surveys to pay for google one lol
How many surveys do you have to do for that? Surely quite a lot right?
Nice.
I do similar, with using Bing to earn free Xbox Game Pass.
Is that possible, can you care to explain a little more are you talking about Google opinions survey?
Enjoyed the video but not for me. With Google Photos I've got my full collection stored off site and I can share my 2TB subscription (£80 per year) with my family group so that's a real bonus. Every month I download a copy of the current photos and store locally on my PC with a further copy on an external HDD. Much simpler if Big Brother doesn't bother you.
Why do you have two offline copies? I understand having one as a backup to the cloud storage, but what is the purpose of the other offline copy? Just another backup to be extra safe?
@@minimalisthealth If your only offline copy is on your PC or one external drive then this could be lost due to theft, fire, software corruption, hardware failure, or malware . The latter would be even worse if you your online account was also compromised by the same malware as you may not be able to restore at all!
you should always have an offsite backup solution, in case of something like a fire at the property
I've bought Pixel 1 and made a configuration to automatically copy photos from my new phone to a pixel 1 and then it uploads photos for free in original quality.
Cost 50-60$
I also want to do the same. Can you tell me what will happen to the photos you uploaded through Pixel 1? Will they count towards the 15GB quota provided by Google Photos?
Are photos uploading in their original quality or in storage saver mode?
@@Ram-KrIt won't count against your storage and you can upload in original quality too.
This facility is available till Pixel 4a 4G. However on 4a, only express quality is free but for prior version original quality is also free.
Pro tip: If you use custom roms you can install Pixel experience ROM in any phone and it will spoof your phone as a Pixel phone and you can enjoy free uploads. But hey let's make it not look likes big deal because we don't Google Killin it off like it did with Vanced. Although we got Revanced, we don't if we'll get any alternative in case of photos
@@Ram-Kr Storage is free if you upload via pixel 1 in original and optimized quality.
But make sure to disable auto backup on your main smartphone.
What the copy configuration you use to copy the photos as I have an pixel XL? Cheers
@@sandman_rides I'm using an app called SyncThing. There's a few tutorials here on UA-cam about how to set up sync of the Camera folder between two devices using SyncThing.
Just buy an OG google pixel 1 n enjoy free original quality unlimited storage. Google is still honoring their promise
Until they stop honoring that promise...
@@A-M-B well 8 years has passed and it’s still working 🫠
That is what I did. Still works
Not for too long ☠️
Yup did exactly that
Hi Im thinking on a external hard drive ir ssd to store my pics, what do you recomend?
I use immich on my old laptop server
it has offline face detection and scene detection and is very good
You have your old laptop running all the time? How's the power consumption?
@@mightyskull It's fine.
not very fast as it has a really shitty processor but for what I use it for it works just fine.
I don't really know about power consumption as I don't have the tools to test it but I don't think it's affecting the electricity pill that much.
How can I check to see how much storage i'll need? I've been using google photos since 2015 and have 1000's of photos. I'm not sure 4tb would be sufficient??
You can check your Google account for the storage used by your Google Photos. Or Google Photos>>Tap profile icon>>Account storage
Never back up to a motorised hard drive. Use an SSD. I have had three ext HD die on me including two from Seagate. Samsung SSD seems to be the most reliable.
SSD chips have a far shorter lifespan than hard drives. That is why most servers still use HDDs.
Spoken like someone has no clue about data storage.
Can I create backups to an external hard drive connected to the Beestation? backups of the BeeStation internal hard drive.
Hi Damien,
Really interesting video. Though I myself don't care too much about photos and videos my wife does and I am trying to find a solution for her. She isn't a tech person so I am working through to find something that gives her access to her photos when ever she wants. Not sure this is the solution but I appreciate the idea and will look into this.
Thank you for a very informative video.
Does Google release patch notes with devices my phone never gets notes after the updates
7:16 Nice selfies!
Personally moved everything to Proton. ITs good in of itself, just a bit behind with the search and “smart” features. However, it is certainty getting there and being regularly updated.
Very dangerous solution for the mums & dads of the world. A single hard drive that WILL eventually fail with no built in backup. Can you imagine the heartache when years of family photos are lost ? Its only half a solution.
Ya but how do you select all the pictures at once to save them. So I thought I had to psychically buy an external hardrive to save all my Google photos. Instead of having to save them on the phone external hardrive or computer
The whole point is that I wanna save all my Google photos offline to an external hardrive to access them whenever I want so then I can delete them from Google photos and make room for more photos since they now have a storage limit
So do I need to psychically buy an external hardrive then
What are the best brands of external hardrives to get
FYI when you export photos via Google takeout you lose all metadata in the JST files and it’s very complicated to restore the metadata via 3rd party apps
Even with this unit, I would create a batch file to robocopy everything to another external drive and put that 2nd drive in a fireproof safe (you can get ones that are rated for 2 hours at a hardware store). This will protect you against loss from a hard drive failure, physical theft or damage.
RoboCopy, once initially run, is quick as it will only copy new/modified files and delete removed files.
Currently I move my photos off my phone once a month to my PC, roboCopy (all files, not just video and pictures) to a NAS and a portable hard drive and the hard drive is stored in my safe.
In regards to this product, I agree that it should allow drive replacement or even offer a shell (with no hard drive) which you can put a drive of your choice.
Why not just make a cloud backup?
@@volodymyrliashenko1024 Cause I would have to go with a 3rd party storage and who can say if they will disappear one night or not.
Pulling the disk out of the safe once a month is not that big of a task. RoboCopy only copies files that have changed, so it's just a few minutes work, unplug and back in the safe.
My NAS storage is available to me anywhere I go, so I have remote access. No monthly fees required.
@@madmax1412 hm, maybe one day I will try this solution.
Now a days, I'd would only use a local backup as like a 2nd backup. Google photos will be primary. And in the the prices for plans are cheaper too with bundling it with Google Wireless
"I've been exploring digital storage alternatives because paying a monthly subscription to store my photos is frustrating. Thank you for this video-it has made my life so much easier!" 13:10 13:10
I backup not so important or everyday photos in express quality in google photos at express quality! And only keep offline copies of important and which i am emotionally connected with.
I use Google Photos - - - ALONG WITH my own Synology NAS.
3-2-1 backup solution.
On Device (256GB phones + SD card),
On NAS (DS220+ w/ 2x 2TB IronWolf drives),
On the cloud.
A family of 6, this is seamless & automatic for all of us. Both Google Photos & Synology Photos backs-up when on WIFI & the phone is charging.
And if my house burns down, I still have the cloud backup. Same for if Google gets hacked, I have my own local copy.
And Google Photos has a usage/trend projection - at our current rate, our 2TB plan won't fill up for another 4 years. And in that time, I can go through & trim out any duplicates or unneeded media.
My Scandisk Ibi just announced they are killing the android app, basically making my home storge device a brick. It actually worked well and was very simple although it was slow. I do have my own plex server, so I think I'll be utilizing that for backup moving forward.
Hopefully we see something with Intel's Lunar Lake or Qualcomm's X Elite. Then we could have the ultimate NAS+Plex+backup server, while being efficient & compact
I’m pretty sure they’re gonna switch to a subscription model sooner or later which is understandable for them to scale but sad…
What happens when the HW fails?
I only store necessary photos. Still haven't gone above 30gb in the 100gb plan. 100gb basic plan is good value.
But after 200gb the next plan is 2TB 💀
Use Immich
My only issue with this idea is that Google is in the cloud and it is easy for anyone. Local storage means that you can lose connection due to power outage and could lose your photos if you do not use a quality NAS. The other issue is if something happens to you, the geek. Not everyone knows how to manage a NAS.
no NAS, no reliability. If that one Bee drive fails you lose EVERYTHING!
Maybe opendrive is a good option for you
already did this when google photos introduce payment hahaha
I like Google Photos. I've never had any problems and have never had reason to question any thing to do with privacy.
LoL!
I wish Google would merge photos & gallery
Only Google phots? No Apple Photos
Noce long ad
Is not a backup if you only have 1 copy
Next video how i ditched ssd| taking google photos
Honestly One Drive is better then Google photos. And it's a lot cheaper with a lot more features. I have physical hard drives but it's a hassle to find pictures and videos plus you run the risk of the hard drive malfunctioning and corrupting files.
If you have your important files on only ONE storage drive, you're doing it wrong.
🤣🤣🤣
this would be a good video if this wasn't such a blatant sponsor, and it's closed source anyway so it might as well be pointless.
If the video is sponsored you should say so
I'm pretty sure you have to disclose that this video is an ad
They didn’t receive money, and he outlined the downsides. Seems pretty fair to me…
Lol imagine just using local backups from the start
most people are lazy or not tech savvy.
I know files before I knew the rest of technology 🤣 and I'm still not really even tech savvy
1. I don't use cloud storage for my important files.
2. $220 for a 4TB hard drive is CRIMINAL! 🤣🤣🤣
That = $55 per Terabyte.
I can get a 8TB external hard drive for $170 at Best Buy right now.
Bro uses google pixel and still cares about privacy issue💀💀💀
pixels are the best phones for privacy roms
problem is hard drives corrupt and everything in life gets lost or stolen. I'll stick with Photos for free thx
Only an idiot would store their important files on ONE storage drive.
You're supposed to keep your important files on at least 3 storage drives:
2 on-site and 1 stored away from your Home or Office.
Only an idiot would depend on a computer somewhere else to keep all their important pictures
You do realise that Google Photos uses hard drives to store your photos in a server right💀
@@reynoldclare7981but they backup on multiple server across the world….
@@reynoldclare7981servers have multiple redundancies, your hard drive does not.
I ditched Google One subscription by rooting my device into a pixel, n get unlimited photos and videos at zero cost.
This used to work for a while with the rom but at a point when it gets patched all your data will be counted and then you have to pay to upload more.
@@Likithrocks bro I'm using it since a year n a half, no issues. In Sept 2022 I consumed all my 15gb usage, I reuploaded it once I rooted my device, n now my Google photos storage count fix at 48mb. I've more than 50k photos/videos for more than 20years of data. I couldn't afford to loose it or allow Google to dictate me for it's subscription.
@@syedhasanjilani I would suggest you to keep a alternative backup of the same!
@@syedhasanjilani Well I wont deny the fact I stopped messing with roms since 22 and i think the last time i had that where it didnt work was 21 so my milage did vary.
But Im glad it still works. Should get back into the rooting game
@@Likithrocks I didn't change the ROM, I'm still on my stock rom, running android 8.1. I'm not fan of custom roms, did tried in 2013-14, since then I always use stock rom which comes with the mobile, even didn't update it.
Immich is better
The Channel Should Be Renamed To 9To5(Un)Google. 😂