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Google Drive vs. Google Photos: What Mylio Photos Users Need to Know
Google Drive vs. Google Photos: What Mylio Photos Users Need to Know
Updated over a week ago

If you're using Mylio Photos to organize and safeguard your precious memories, you've probably heard of Google Drive and Google Photos. But if you’re wondering how these services work with Mylio Photos, you’re not alone! Although they’re both part of the Google family, they have different purposes when it comes to managing your photos.

What Is Google Photos?

Google Photos is a service for storing and organizing your pictures and videos. You may have started using Google Photos because it was a convenient way to store and back up your pictures. However, over time, you may have become more aware of some of the privacy concerns associated with the service. Google Photos uses advanced AI technology to organize and recognize faces, objects, and locations in your images. While this can be helpful, it’s important to know that your personal media could also be used for other purposes.

For example, Google’s terms of service allow them to use your photos and videos for things like AI training and even to tailor targeted ads. That can feel a bit intrusive, especially when your personal moments and memories are involved. If you’re concerned about how your data is being used, it might be time to take control of your photos and move them out of Google’s system.

Mylio Photos also has AI tools to recognize faces and objects, but its AI runs locally on your machine, and your media isn’t visible to anyone at Mylio. Mylio’s privacy-focused approach guarantees that your media will never be used to train AI or for targeted advertising.

How Google Photos Works with Mylio Photos

If you’re using Mylio Photos to organize your photo library and want to add your images from Google Photos, there’s a handy tool called Google Takeout. Here’s what you need to know:

  • One-Way Import: Using Google Takeout, you can export all your photos and videos from Google Photos and download them as a .zip file. Once you have the .zip file, Mylio Photos can import everything—including the important details like dates, locations, and captions.

  • Not a Two-Way Sync: It’s important to know that this is a one-way import. Once you’ve imported your Google Photos into Mylio Photos, any changes you make in Mylio Photos (like edits or organization) won’t sync back to Google Photos. And, if you add new photos to Google Photos later, they won’t automatically show up in Mylio Photos. You’ll need to repeat the Takeout process to update your Mylio Photos library.

  • No Automatic Updates: Because Google Takeout is a manual process, there’s no automatic way for Mylio Photos to keep pulling in new photos from Google Photos. You’ll have to trigger the export each time you want to update your collection in Mylio Photos.

What Is Google Drive?

Google Drive is another service from Google, but unlike Google Photos, it’s a general cloud storage platform. You can use it to store all kinds of files—documents, videos, spreadsheets, and photos.

How Google Drive Works with Mylio Photos

Mylio Photos gives you more options with Google Drive than it does with Google Photos. Here’s how it works:

  • Cloud Storage Location: You can use Google Drive to store some or all of your Mylio Photos Library. If you want an extra layer of protection, you can store your photos on Google Drive.

  • Vault Setup: In Mylio Photos, you can designate Google Drive as a Vault. A Vault is like a backup of your entire Mylio library, storing your full-resolution photos. Setting up Google Drive as a Vault means you have a safe backup of all your photos in the Cloud—just in case something happens to your computer or other devices.

  • Syncing: Unlike Google Photos, where syncing isn’t an option, using Google Drive as a Vault means that Mylio Photos can sync your files. If you add new photos to Mylio Photos, they’ll be automatically saved to Google Drive. And if you delete something from Mylio Photos, it’ll be removed from your Google Drive.

    • It’s important to note that Google Drive is meant to be a destination for your Mylio Photos Library, not a source. If you have existing media stored on Google Drive, it won’t automatically appear in your Mylio Photos Library. You’ll need to manually import those files into Mylio if you want them included in your collection. Remember, while Google Drive can store and sync files from Mylio Photos, it won’t pull in media unless you take the step to import it into your library.

  • Not Linked to Google Photos: Even though Google Drive and Google Photos are both Google services, they don’t talk to each other. So, if you store your photos on Google Drive, they won’t automatically show up in Google Photos. You’ll need to manually upload them to Google Photos if you want them to appear there.

Wrapping It Up

Both Google Drive and Google Photos can be useful with Mylio Photos, but they’re quite different. If you’re just looking to import your Google Photos into Mylio Photos, you’ll need to use Google Takeout—but remember, it’s not a sync, so you’ll have to repeat the process to keep things up to date.

On the other hand, if you want a continuous storage solution, Google Drive is the way to go. You can set it up as a Vault, and it’ll keep your entire library synced and backed up automatically.

Hopefully, this helps clarify the differences so you can make the best choice for managing and protecting your photos in Mylio Photos!

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