Google Photos VS. iCloud to Backup Photos: Which is Better?

Our iPhones store countless precious photos and videos, and to prevent sudden data loss and protect these important memories, choosing a cloud service for regular backups is a great option.

Both iCloud and Google Photos are excellent choices that can quickly back up your photos to the cloud through a wireless connection.

Google Photos vs iCloud to backup photos: Full comparison

Google Photos is a photo sharing and storage platform created by Google, allowing users to upload their photos and videos. iCloud, is a cloud storage and computing service offered by Apple Inc, which helps users easily sync data accross Apple devices.

When it comes to backing up iPhone photos wirelessly, which one will be more suitable for you? Keep on reading to find details.

Part 1. Backup storage and price

Google Photos offers a more generous free storage allowance, giving users 15GB at no charge, while iCloud provides a smaller 5GB for free.

As a result, Google Photos users have more space for storing their photos. But iCloud supports saving a wider range of data types, such as files, photos, messages, and more.

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Part 2. System and device compatibility

Google’s service is more universally accessible across different platforms, whereas iCloud is mainly restricted to Apple devices.

Google Photos offers extensive compatibility, with apps available for iPhone, iPad, Android devices, and even integration with iMessage. Its automatic backup feature works flawlessly across all supported devices, ensuring your photos and videos are securely stored. Most of its features can also be accessed through a web browser.

On the other hand, iCloud Photos is primarily tailored for Apple devices, featuring automatic syncing, editing tools, shared albums, and robust search capabilities. Although users can browse, upload, and manage photos and videos via a web interface, the experience is more limited compared to using the iOS and macOS apps.

Therefore, Google Photos delivers a more consistent and comprehensive user experience across a broader array of devices and platforms.

Part 3. Features on backing up, syncing and uploading photos

Both iCloud and Google Photos feature intuitive web interfaces that allow users to upload images and videos from computers to cloud storage.

iCloud offers effortless automatic uploading through the Photos app on Mac, iPhone, and other Apple devices, removing the need for manual uploads. However, this convenience is exclusive to Apple devices, requiring Android users to manually upload photos via the browser.

Google Photos enables users to sync and back up their photos by turning on the “Backup & Sync” option in the settings, which is available on both iOS and Android devices.

Part 4. Privacy and security

Google Photos highlights its robust security measures and technology, guaranteeing that photos uploaded, stored, or shared are well-protected.

Similarly, iCloud safeguards user messages, emails, and photos with end-to-end encryption, securing them both while stored on the device and during transmission.

Both Google and Apple store user data in their own data centers, using rigorous security protocols to prevent unauthorized access.

However, it's important to understand that both companies retain the decryption keys to user files, enabling access if required by law enforcement or in cases of suspected illegal activity.

Part 5. Other features: editing, searching and sharing

1. Photo Editing

Google Photos focuses on quick enhancements with features like automatic color correction and stylized filters, making it easy for users to improve their photos.

iCloud Photos provides more advanced editing tools, enabling users to fine-tune color levels and apply auto-corrections for quick adjustments. Users can also access the complete editing toolkit available in Apple’s native Photos app, enhancing the editing experience across iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices.

2. Photo searching

Google Photos excels with its powerful search features, allowing users to search by date, location, and even by identifying people, places, and objects in photos, making it easy to find images based on various criteria.

iCloud Photos uses iOS features to recognize faces and objects in photos, though not as extensively as Google Photos.

3. Photo sharing

Google Photos allows for seamless sharing by providing links for both individual photos and entire albums, making it easy to share and view content with others.

iCloud Photos supports sharing links for individual photos only, making it more practical to share multiple photos directly through the Apple Photos app.

iCloud vs Google Photos for iPhone: Which is better?

From the comparison in the previous section, it is clear that Google Photos offers users better search and sharing features, more free storage, and greater compatibility with Android devices and Windows systems.

However, for Apple users, the ability to seamlessly sync and view photos across different iOS and Mac devices is a significant advantage of iCloud. Both cloud services have their own strengths, and users can choose the tool that best suits their needs for backing up their photos.

Better alternative to back up multiple iPhone photos 

iCloud and Google Photos both provide users with convenient wireless methods to back up photos. However, for users with a large number of high-quality photos and videos to back up, cloud services may not be the best option.

Network issues could cause synchronization or transfer interruptions, and poor internet connections might lead to significant delays in uploading photos. For those needing to access iCloud data on Windows, the process can be particularly challenging due to system differences.

In such cases, AOMEI FoneBackup is an excellent alternative for backing up iPhone photos or other data.

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Easy iPhone Data Backup Software

• Back up unlimited iPhone data, like photos, videos, apps, etc.
• 10 GBs of data can be backed up within minutes.
• Fully/selectively back up iPhone data as you like.
• Preview and select data you need before the process.
• Wide compatibility prevents errors. (iPhone 15/iOS 18).

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Now you can download AOMEI FoneBackup on your Windows PC and learn from the detailed steps to get how to back up iPhone photos/videos efficiently.

Step 1. Launch AOMEI FoneBackup > Connect your iPhone to the computer via a USB cable > Go to Phone Backup > Choose Selective Backup > Click Get Started.

Step 2. Click the icon to preview and select the needed photos > Click OK to continue.

Step 3. You can click the Backup Storage Path to select a location to save your photos. Then click Start Backup button to back up iPhone photos to PC.

Conclusion

From this passage, you can know the full comparison between iCloud and Google Photos. If you want to store more photos, videos, or search for information about your images, Google Photos might be better. If you need to sync photos among Apple devices, iCloud will be a good choice.

For people who need to back up multiple high-quality photos and videos on i Phone, AOMEI FoneBackup will be an ideal way to make it efficiently!