How to Make Google Photos Default App on iPhone

On the iPhone and iPad, it was previously impossible to designate non-Apple apps as default. However, with the latest update of iOS 14, you are able to Make Google Photos Default App on iPhone. Moreover, you can also change the default browser, default email, and default music app on your iPhone or iPad. However, it was possible to set a default picture app on iPhone. So, how do you use a different gallery or photographs app on your iPhone, such as Google Photos?

If you’re looking for a way to make Google Photos your iPhone’s default photo app, look no further. You will get your answer here. This method of changing the default Photos application works on both iPhone and iPad. However, to make it more simple, we will be mentioning the iPhone way of going forward so that most of the users may easily understand.

You may also like to read Google Photos vs Microsoft Photos: Which Photo Backup Service Is Better.

How Apple Photos Work on iPhone or iPad

Before we proceed any further, you may need to understand how Apple Photos work on iPhone.

The default gallery app on iPhone is Apple Photos, which comes pre-installed. In the Apple Photographs app, you can see the photos and videos you took with the Camera app. Enable iCloud Images if you want to back up your photos to the cloud. All of your iPhone’s old and new images and videos will be backed up to Apple’s iCloud service.

How Google Photos Work on iPhone or iPad

Similarly, Google Photos can also serve as a gallery app as well as a cloud storage service. It allows you to backup and syncs your photos to Google servers with a click. When you install Google Images on your iPhone, it just functions as a gallery app, allowing you to see your iPhone’s photos. Your iPhone’s images and videos will be backed up to the cloud if you enable Google Photos backup feature.

On your iPhone, you can use both Google Photos and Apple Photos. However, here’s what you’ll need to do if you simply want to use Google Photos as your iPhone’s default application.

Have a look at the Top 10 Best Photo Editing Software.

Can We Make Google Photos Default App on iPhone?

The answer is yes, but it may appear that setting Google Photos as the default app is a simple task, however, the truth is a little different. To see images on your iPhone, you can surely use Google Photos instead of Apple Photos. However, you won’t be able to use Google Photos as your iPhone’s default photo or gallery app.

You may make Google Images your default app for taking backups of your iPhone photos solely. To do so, you’ll need to turn off iCloud Photos and turn on Google Photos backup (detailed steps below). However, unlike Apple Images, if you’ve stored photos on Google Photos and decide to remove them from your iPhone using the Free up space option, you won’t be able to view them directly from other apps on your iPhone. You can access them from other apps if they are stored on both iPhone and Google Photos.

Read also 10 Best Free Photo Editors.

How to Make Google Photos Default App on iPhone

Now that you’re aware of the reality, follow these steps to allow Google Images to back up your photos instead of backing up on iCloud.

Step 1. Download Google Photos app on iPhone.

Step 2. Open Settings on your iPhone and click on your name.

Step 3. Tap on iCloud, and then click on Photos.

Step 4. Here you will notice two options – Optimize iPhone storage and Download and Keep original. Before you turn off iCloud Photos, make sure you pick Download and Keep Originals, select the first option. High-quality images will be saved to Google Photos in the next step. Original images may take some time to download on your iPhone. You must make sure that you have adequate room to store them.

Turn off the toggle next to iCloud Photos once it has been downloaded. Any new images taken with your iPhone will no longer be synced to iCloud.

Step 5. Open Google Photos and select the profile picture icon at the top of the screen. From the menu, select Google Photos settings.

Step 6. Click on Back up & sync. Enable the toggle button that appears next to Backup & Sync.

Step 7. When you enable Back up & sync, you’ll be given the opportunity to select the upload size (or quality) for your photographs and videos. You can choose between two quality levels: high quality (storage-saving) and original.

Compress Photos & Videos to Save Space on iPhone

The Storage Saver compresses photographs and movies for you to save space on iPhone and iPad. If a photo is larger than 16 megapixels, it will be compressed to 16 megapixels. Videos will also be reduced to 1080 pixels. The Original quality, on the other hand, means that the photographs and videos are kept in the same resolution as when they were taken. Select the appropriate choice based on your needs. You can also allow Google Photographs to make a mobile data backup of your photos or videos.

Images and movies on your iPhone are now automatically backed up to Google Photos, as are any new photos or films you create with your iPhone. You may access them on your PC using any browser, or using the Google Photos app on an iPhone or Android phone.

Your iPhone images are currently viewable on both iPhone and Google Photos. If you want to save space on your iPhone, you may use Google Photographs’ Free up space function to delete photos and movies that have already been backed up. The photographs and videos will only be stored in the cloud in this manner. To do so, go to the Google Photos app’s settings and select Manage device storage. Select Free up space from the drop-down menu. You can also check if an Image Has Been Photoshopped.

How to Access Photos on iPhone for Third-Party Apps

You won’t be able to interact with photographs and videos stored in Google Photos from other iPhone apps if you do this. To utilize the photos in other apps, you’ll need to first download them from Google Photos. Open the photo in the Google Photos app to do so. Download the snapshot by swiping upon it. Alternatively, press the Share icon and click Share, then choose the appropriate app.

The steps outlined above will assist you in transferring fresh photographs and videos from your iPhone to Google Photos. But what about existing iCloud data? Apple recently announced the availability of a native service for transferring iCloud images and videos to Google Photos. This will not, however, remove data from iCloud or free up space. If you wish to free up space on your iPhone taken up by images and movies on iCloud, use the Disable & Delete function. For using this feature, go to iPhone Settings > Tap on Your name > Click on iCloud > Tap on Manage Storage > Select Photos > Click on Disable & Delete. You are done!

Google Photos and iCloud Photos

For beginners, compared to iCloud, Google Photos free tier offers more storage. In the free version of iCloud, you get only 5 GB of storage, whereas Google gives you 15 GB. Google Photos is slightly less expensive than Apple Photos, even for the premium versions. Both products coexist with other services from their respective owners in the same space.

Aside from storage, Google Images allows you to access your photos and videos from any device. With iCloud photographs, this feature isn’t available. Google Photos also has powerful photo and video editing tools.

Closing Words: Make Google Photos Default App on iPhone

As you can see, things aren’t as straightforward as they appear. However, if you have all of the data, you can easily utilize Google Photos on your iPhone on a regular basis. In future iOS releases, we expect Apple will allow us to make Google Photographs the default photos app on iPhone. You may also be interested to know how to recover your deleted data from iPhone