Users of the popular Google Photos app might soon find out that they have to pay a subscription cost if they want access to all of the photo editing features available. Google Photos has always offered an enhanced image and video storage experience, and managed to do this while being free to download and use.
Google Photos is arguably one of the better apps offered by Google and one of its main selling points is that users are able to store as many photos as they like, as long as they are under 16 megapixels. For those that are more invested in Google’s ecosystem, the better the Google Photos experience. For example, when Google first launched its Pixel phone lineup, those devices not only got the same unlimited cloud backup of photos and videos, but at full resolution. Google has since stopped that Pixel-exclusive feature for newer Pixel phones, and it looks like other features might now be about to disappear behind a paywall.
Based on a recent teardown of the latest version of the Google Photos app by XDA Developers, it now appears that Google is looking at ways to monetize the app by locking access to select premium features away. While it still remains unclear which features are likely to require payment, the code strings do indicate that Google wants to use those features as a way to direct users towards its Google One subscription.
Google Trying To Make Its One Subscription Better
From the Google Photos perspective, this is likely to be a hugely unpopular change. The Google Photos app continues to impress and is a very popular choice for many phone owners. Therefore, forcing users towards a separate subscription to unlock the richest experience possible, is likely to annoy current users. Are they likely to move away from the app? Probably not, as it seems highly unlikely that Google would too drastically alter the app’s free features, to ensure it remains a useful and worthwhile app. From the other perspective, Google, like Apple, now views subscriptions as a great way to expand revenue. While Apple focuses on its new subscriptions bundles, Google seems keen to enrich its Google One subscription by adding additional features. For example, Google only recently added its own VPN to the most expensive Google One subscription option. Along with the possibility of additional premium Google Photos editing features, a Google One subscription will offer better value than ever before.
If Google is intent on actually charging users for access to some Google Photos features, then it might make more sense for Google to simply add an in-app upgrade option for the app alone. While Google One subscriptions do start from as little as $1.99, that’s a rolling monthly cost with a $1.99 one-off payment to unlock the full app likely to be easier for existing Google Photos users to digest.
Source: XDA Developers