What iCloud and Google Photos actually do
Whether your photographs have a second copy somewhere, and be able to check it in under a minute.
Both of the big services do one plain thing: within a minute or so of you taking a photograph, a complete copy of it is sent to a building full of computers and kept there, under your account.
Key points
- Say what the cloud is doing: keeping a second copy, and mirroring what you do
- Check in under a minute whether it is switched on for your photographs
- Read the line at the bottom of the library that says whether copying has finished
- Spot a full account, which stops the copying without telling you
What to remember
- Settings, your name, iCloud, Photos. On Android: Google Photos, your picture at the top, Backup.
- One library, several windows. If you want a copy that is genuinely separate, that is the next lesson.
- The bottom of the Library screen tells you whether the copying has finished. It is the most reassuring line on the phone.
Try this
Open Photos, scroll all the way to the bottom of your library, and read the line you find there. If it says everything is up to date, that is genuinely good news and worth knowing.
Practice: What iCloud and Google Photos actually do. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.