No other person has access to them until you share the photos with them (more on that below). So any photo you add to it or take a backup of is private unless you share it manually. Your photos are not visible through your Google profile or anything like that. That is, by default, anything shown in the Google Photos apps on Android or iOS (iPhone/iPad) is visible to you only.

Whether the backup feature is turned on or not, the photos can be accessed by you only. That’s because snaps in Google Photos library are continuously syncing. Meaning, even if the Back up & sync setting is turned off on your device, any photos you take a backup in Google Photos Library will reflect automatically on all the connected devices. That is, while you can control the backup functionality for each device individually, there is no control on the sync feature. Backup and sync are two different things for Google Photos. If you deny, you will be able to continue to use the app as a regular photo viewer. Further, you will be able to take advantage of the powerful search feature, which otherwise isn’t available. They will also be stored in the cloud, thus saving storage space on your device. If you agree, you will be able to access them on other devices linked with the same Google account. When you open the app for the first time on your phone, the app will ask whether you want to take a backup of your photos to the Google Photos library. That’s until you take a backup of your photos. It’s your typical photo viewer app where you access all the photos on your device. How Google Photos Worksīefore we focus on privacy and sharing, it’s important to understand the basics of Google Photos. Here, you will find out about the privacy of your photos, sharing features, and much more. In all this madness, many might be wondering - what happens to the photos in Google Photos? Are they private? Or can everyone see them?įasten your seat belts as we take you onto the journey of Google Photos. On Android, if you go inside Albums, you will find other device folders too. By default, it will show all the photos captured by your phone’s camera on the app's home screen. And some of you may manually install it on your iPhone too. Today, Google Photos comes pre-installed on most Android phones. In their run to make Google Photos as a single photo viewer, editor, and sharing platform, Picasa also lost its life. Since Google+ is phasing out, Google decided to keep Google Photos as a separate tool. Google Photos sprung out of Google+ and was a part of the social network originally.

Google photo viewer since picasa