Google Photos 2.11 Update Makes Backups, Sharing Of Photos Faster

Google Photos will soon be adding two new features to the app to make backing up and sharing photos faster. Version 2.11 of the Google Photos app also includes minor UI changes.

“Now your photos will back up automatically in a lightweight preview quality that's fast on 2G connections and still looks great on a smartphone,” Google said on its blog. “And when a good Wi-Fi connection becomes available, your backed up photos will be replaced with high-quality versions.”

The new and faster backup method is ideal for users who are on poor network connections. This is really great especially when a user suddenly loses storage space on their phone when they’re in an area with no available Wi-Fi network.

This also shows Google’s recent advancements in terms of image compression techniques. Back in January, the company implemented its Rapid and Accurate Image Super-Resolution (RAISR) machine learning image compression technique for Google+, and it’s possible that this is the same thing that’s being used for Google Photos 2.11.

As for sharing photos, Google also made it easier to share multiple photos at once even on slow connections. Google Photos will send low resolution photos first when it detect low connectivity. Once the recipient is on much stronger network connection, photos will load in higher resolution.

Google Photos 2.11 also comes with minor visual changes as well. In previous versions of the app, a photo being backed up will have a small spinning indicator in the corner.

With the 2.11 update, single backup status will be present on the top right corner of the app just below the search bar, according to 9To5Google. The status will read “Backing up” when it’s currently backing up photos and videos.

Users can tap or pull down the indicator to view which photo or video is currently being backed up. The indicator will show a check mark once it’s done performing a complete back up.

Google Photos 2.11 is already being rolled out to Android and iOS devices. Users should receive the update in the next few days.