Google Photos gains faster backup and sharing on low or spotty connections

Google’s mobile Photos app recently gained the ability to automatically adjust the white tone of your images to given them a more natural look. During an event in São Paulo, Brazil today, the search company announced that Google Photos for iOS and Android now includes faster backup and sharing on low connectivity. They’re rolling out these improvements in Google Photos for iOS and Android starting today, ahead of a wider rollout in the coming days.

Backing up and sharing photos and videos is difficult when you’re on the go and don’t have an Internet connection. Thankfully, both features now work on low connectivity.

When it detects low or poor connectivity, the app will back up in a lightweight preview quality that Google says is fast on 2G connections and “still looks great” on a smartphone. “And when a good Wi-Fi connection becomes available, your backed up photos will be replaced with high-quality versions,” noted Google.

The company did not say whether this feature takes advantage of Google’s recently published JPEG compression algorithm, called Guetzli. Based on human psychovisual system, Guetzli reduces file size by more than one-third without degrading the perceived quality of JPEGs. On the downside, it requires ample processing power.

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They’re also making it easier to share many photos at once on low connectivity.

If you try sharing an image while on a spotty connection, the app will first send a low resolution version so the recipient can see what you’ve shared right away. Shared content automatically updates in higher resolution when connectivity permits.

This is a staggered release rolling out gradually to everyone so don’t panic and check back later if you don’t see the refreshed Google Photos app in your local App Store.

Grab Google Photos for free from App Store.

Source: Google