Amazon Photos is still, like many other services of the company, a true stranger. However, it is a very interesting solution to save all your photos. And you may be paying for iCloud Photos or Google Photos without knowing that, by having Prime, you can already access it. So, let’s talk about Amazon’s photo storage service .
Amazon Photos, what it is and what exactly it offers
Amazon Photos is an Amazon photo storage service. And as a customer (aka registered user) they offer you 5GB of free space for you to save your photos and, taking advantage of Amazon Drive, any other type of file you want as long as you don’t go over that quota.
Of course, if you are a paid Amazon Prime user, then you get unlimited storage for your photos. But it is not the only benefit, you also have improvements in file search and organization. Although the highlight is that you can add up to five members to take advantage of unlimited storage and the ability to share photos from the Family Archive.
Are Amazon Photos and Amazon Drive the same?
Amazon Photos and Amazon Drive are not the same , although it is easy to confuse them. As we indicated before, if you do not pay for Prime, Photos and Drive if you could say that they are the same, because the total storage in both is shared and for free is only 5GB.
The difference comes when you already pay for Prime, then you gain unlimited space for photos and keep 5GB of space for the rest of the documents (text files, PDF, music, videos, …) If that storage falls short you can hire one of The two top plans the company offers. For example, 100 GB for 19.99 euros per year or 1 TB for 99.99 euros per year. Prices that really are not bad.
Then, at the operating level, as you access Amazon Photos or Amazon Prime you will see that the user interface is different. In the first you really have an image gallery and in the second what would be a folder view.
How to access Amazon Photos
To access Amazon Photos you have different options, from access through a browser visiting this website to applications for mobile devices, Fire devices or desktop systems. Yes it is important to mention that the desktop version of this application allows you to use both Amazon Photos and Drive.
Once you start using them you will see that there is no mystery. Upload the photos and voila, you already have them available from any location or device where the account is synchronized. The files it allows with: jpeg, png and various video like MP4, MOV, etc.
Main functions of Amazon Photos
When you access Amazon Photos, in addition to the ability to upload all your images you also have other extra features. These range from the photo gallery to a basic photo editor , but enough for simple corrections without having to resort to an extra application. Also option to share content, Family File and a photo search system by dates. And if you are a Prime user, these searches improve allowing you to locate images by people, places and objects.
Although you may wonder what is Family Archive? Well, this is nothing more than a digital file designed to share those most personal photos with family and friends. With the option of adding up to six members in total (you and five more), all of them benefit from unlimited storage of all the photos that upload to it.
In addition, these members also include their own Amazon Photos account with unlimited storage for photos and 5GB for other files and videos. So, it is an interesting functionality for a price (that of Prime) that is even more justified if you take into account that it also gives access to Prime Video or Prime Music.
The experience with Amazon Photos versus the competition
Choosing a cloud storage system is not as simple as it seems. According to the needs of each user there will be options that are ahead of others. Although it also influences the ecosystem of devices they use.
If you are an Apple user, with your iPhone, iPad and Mac, the integration of iCloud with various native tools is something that pushes a lot to use your cloud storage solution. As with Android and Google Photos, although in this case the Google service also offers unlimited storage. Therefore, it would be difficult to decide between one or the other.
In case it serves you, our personal experience with the service has never been bad. Uploading and downloading of files is done correctly and at a good speed . We say this because there are services in which, despite having a good internet connection, synchronization is not so good.
Then, the usability of the platform from the applications or the web browser is also good. And search filters work fine. Still, it is you who must value and choose. Our advice is to try, because if you are an Amazon Prime user, you not only take advantage of the subscription, it is that you could save yourself for that extra plan that you have, especially with iCloud Photos.
What happens to the data if I stop paying Amazon Prime
Finally, if you wonder what happens with your data and photos in the event that you stop paying for Amazon Prime and have exceeded this free 5GB fee. Well, Amazon will give you a deadline to download your files and avoid losing anything. But to make it clearer, here is a quick summary.
- Amazon Drive retains all files in active accounts. If by any chance the subscription ends or you reduce to a plan with less storage, the data is maintained , but you will not be able to upload more, or synchronize or share.
- After 180 days above the storage limit , the data will be deleted, starting with the last ones up until it is below the limit allowed according to situation or plan. Always notify via email so you are up to date.
- Accounts that have not logged in in the last two years are considered abandoned . The user will be notified and if the account is not reactivated, the files are deleted.
Ready, this is it. And now, what online photo service do you use and why?