Google is adding some new space-saving features to its Photos app on both the web and iOS. A new feature rolling out to the web client starting Wednesday will give the option to downgrade photos previous backed up in full resolution to the compressed mode in order to save space. And on iOS, there’s a new “Free up space” button being added to the settings menu that deletes already backed up photos…
One of the things that makes the photo service so popular is the ability to back up an unlimited amount of photos in a “High quality” mode where photos over 16 megapixels are compressed. For most, this option suffices for sharing and storing photos. There is also an “Original quality” mode that allows for photo uploads in full resolution, but this counts against your Google Drive storage. If you need to free up some space, you can now convert these to the “High quality” storage option by going into Settings and clicking ‘Recover Storage’.
As for iOS, users who upload photos in original quality may already be familiar with an option to bulk delete device copies when their storage nears full. Now, everyone that gets close to maxing out their phone’s storage will see this Assistant card pop up. The update is rolling out now on Android and coming soon to iOS as well.
