Alongside the Brazil-focused updates Google has announced to its Allo and Duo messaging apps, and the news that Google Maps users will soon be able to share their location and travel progress with any contact, the company has made another important announcement, this time referring to its Google Photos application.
The new version of Google Photos has added two new features that improve and streamline backups and sharing of the photographs when the internet connection is low. Additionally, version 2.11 has also seen a slight UI improvement when backups are in progress.
"Google Photos: Faster backup and sharing, regardless of connection"
Google Photos is one of the best applications that exist to store and share our photos and videos on both Android devices and iOS devices. Your ability to unlimited storage in the cloud of the big G that allows us to have our images always available, or the fact that it is the app itself that is in charge of create collages, videos, etc., are just some of the advantages that are now completed by facilitating backup copies and image competition in those moments in which the quality of the connection is conspicuous by its absence.
These improvements announced for Google Photos are achieved first uploading a "light preview" of the image when connectivity is slower or weaker. This version will be the one used for an initial backup and also to create the shared link that can be shown to friends and family.
When the device finds a better Wi-Fi connection, then it will back up your the high-quality version of the image that will permanently replace the low-resolution version in the library. Furthermore, future clicks on the shared URL will also display the full image in high quality.
We created Google Photos to help people easily store, organize, and share photos and videos. But sometimes it can be difficult to back up and share photos and videos, especially when you're on the go and don't have an internet connection. So today we are launching two new features on Android and iOS to make backup and sharing easier on low connectivity. Now your photos will be automatically backed up to a light preview quality which is fast on 2G connections and still looks great on a smartphone. And when a good Wi-Fi connection is available, your backup photos will be replaced with high-quality versions. We are also making it easy to share many photos at once, even with low connectivity. It doesn't matter if you're at the beach or hiking in the mountains, with Google Photos you can now quickly share images even with a spotty connection by sending in low resolution first so your friends and family can see them right away. Later they will be updated in higher resolution when connectivity allows it.
Due to its recent advancements in data and image compression, Google has noted that light image preview quality still "looks great" on smartphones.
Visual enhancements
Additionally, Google Photos version 2.11 also incorporates some small visual changes to the backup interface. Previously, each photo that was being backed up displayed a spinning indicator in the bottom corner to report that it was being uploaded. However now A small circular pill will be displayed at the top of the screen that informs whether all the photos are already backed up or how many are still being sent to the cloud.
Touching or pulling down will display a preview of the current backup image.
All these novelties are already being deployed for both Android and iOS.