Google Photos is arguably one of the most popular services for gallery backups among Android users. It has recently received a steady stream of refinements and updates, bringing features such as chip shortcuts, Real Tone filters, and a home screen shortcut for your screenshots. The latest change to Photos adds a new element to the information section for images, making it easier to tell each file's backed-up resolution and size.
When you access your Photos backup using a web browser, select an image, and click on the ‘i’ button — you will see the EXIF data for the upload, including the filename, day and date of capture, the camera used, location, and camera settings. The folks at 9to5Google spotted a new entry in this information section, labeled ‘Backed up.’
It mentions the backup quality — either “Original quality” or “Storage saver” — and whether the file is taking up space in your account storage. Google previously allowed Pixel users unlimited high-quality image backups, but that changed in January this year. So, if you backed up a file before the privilege was withdrawn, it won’t eat into your account storage, but if it does, you’ll see the file size under the ‘Backed up’ section on Photos.
Interestingly, you can also see a condensed version of the ‘Backed up’ section on the Photos app for iPhone and iPad. It only shows the backup quality and nothing else. This useful improvement seems to be rolling out in a phased manner. We saw a ‘Backed up’ section in Photos on all the accounts we tested, but 9to5Google reports the new section hasn’t shown up for some users. It is a server-side improvement, so you likely won’t need to update the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad.
If you run out of cloud storage on your Google account, consider using the ‘Manage storage’ option in Google Photos to remove blurry photos, large videos, and unnecessary screenshots. Google offers additional storage for a monthly subscription fee through Google One memberships. Plan benefits also include access to specialized customer support and a wider gamut of image editing tools on Photos.