Amazon Back up service

[Colbitz]

I just found out that Amazon has a service for unlimited backing up of full resolution photos. It seems to me there would be some kind of catch.
The first catch of course, unsaid, is that after using their service for a few years they will charge to keep you existing photos - the free is most likely temporary.
But what is the catch in the immediate now?

 

[Tom_N]

You have to pay for a Prime subscription in order to get the 'free' unlimited photo storage.

It seems that you get the backup photos if you buy there tablet - with or whiteout the prime subscription.

I have the tablet and they offered the photos upload .

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201609150

'Fire tablet owners get free, unlimited photo storage, in full resolution, for all of their photos taken with their Fire tablet.'

Will you be shooting a lot of photos with yours?

Maybe you could use an EXIF editor to make it appear that photos you shoot with your real camera were taken with the tablet. And I guess you'd have to transfer them to the tablet afterwards in order for them to be uploaded. Try it and see. But that would be a lot of EXIF editing and transferring.

That sounds like the sort of action that could be interpreted as fraud, for which you’d be lucky if the penalty was only immediate, permanent closure of your account.

 

[sybersitizen]

You have to pay for a Prime subscription in order to get the 'free' unlimited photo storage.

It seems that you get the backup photos if you buy there tablet - with or whiteout the prime subscription.

I have the tablet and they offered the photos upload .

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201609150

'Fire tablet owners get free, unlimited photo storage, in full resolution, for all of their photos taken with their Fire tablet.'

Will you be shooting a lot of photos with yours?

Maybe you could use an EXIF editor to make it appear that photos you shoot with your real camera were taken with the tablet. And I guess you'd have to transfer them to the tablet afterwards in order for them to be uploaded. Try it and see. But that would be a lot of EXIF editing and transferring.

That sounds like the sort of action that could be interpreted as fraud, for which you’d be lucky if the penalty was only immediate, permanent closure of your account.

It's the sort of action that would be ridiculous IMO ... but I did point out the possibility because it will most likely occur to someone to try it if it hasn't already.

I also wonder who has gained any actual benefit from having unlimited storage for photos that were taken with their Fire tablets. Who is shooting endless gigabytes of Fire photos?

 

[Mark B.]

I just found out that Amazon has a service for unlimited backing up of full resolution photos. It seems to me there would be some kind of catch.
The first catch of course, unsaid, is that after using their service for a few years they will charge to keep you existing photos - the free is most likely temporary.
But what is the catch in the immediate now?

It's not really a 'backup' in that it won't automatically sync. Copying of files is completely manual and dependent on the user. On the other hand, if all you want to do is store, say, really important photos or use it for temporary storage while traveling it's great for that. But for me, I wouldn't use it as a backup (and I am a Prime member) simply b/c it's logistically a challenge to keep it in sync with my primary HD storage. Backblaze does all that in the background for me.

Download the Amazon desktop app and you can set the folders to sync with Amazon photos. I have my main photo location set in the desktop backup section and every time I add photos to this location Amazon photos syncs the new pictures (including RAW) to the Amazon cloud. Also, my phone photos are auto synced.

Does it also remove photos from the Amazon cloud that you've deleted from the source location? What about if you change or move a file, is that also synced?

 

[Kokopelli_Rocks]

I just found out that Amazon has a service for unlimited backing up of full resolution photos. It seems to me there would be some kind of catch.
The first catch of course, unsaid, is that after using their service for a few years they will charge to keep you existing photos - the free is most likely temporary.
But what is the catch in the immediate now?

It's not really a 'backup' in that it won't automatically sync. Copying of files is completely manual and dependent on the user. On the other hand, if all you want to do is store, say, really important photos or use it for temporary storage while traveling it's great for that. But for me, I wouldn't use it as a backup (and I am a Prime member) simply b/c it's logistically a challenge to keep it in sync with my primary HD storage. Backblaze does all that in the background for me.

Download the Amazon desktop app and you can set the folders to sync with Amazon photos. I have my main photo location set in the desktop backup section and every time I add photos to this location Amazon photos syncs the new pictures (including RAW) to the Amazon cloud. Also, my phone photos are auto synced.

Does it also remove photos from the Amazon cloud that you've deleted from the source location? What about if you change or move a file, is that also synced?

The app does have a sync option, I don't use that option, I only do auto backup option of select folders. I personally don't want a sync between my desktop and cloud, just a backup. My choice on how I prefer it to work.

 

[Chris Dubea]

It's going to be a lot less useful: https://www.geekwire.com/2022/amazon-is-shutting-down-its-cloud-storage-service-amazon-drive/

 

[Kokopelli_Rocks]

It's going to be a lot less useful: https://www.geekwire.com/2022/amazon-is-shutting-down-its-cloud-storage-service-amazon-drive/

“We are taking the opportunity to more fully focus our efforts on Amazon Photos to provide customers a dedicated solution for photos and video storage,” Amazon says in an FAQ.

I never used Amazon Drive. Looks like Amazon Photos is getting more focus, so it looks positive to me.

 

[Gam3r01]

It's going to be a lot less useful: https://www.geekwire.com/2022/amazon-is-shutting-down-its-cloud-storage-service-amazon-drive/

 

[Tom_N]

It's going to be a lot less useful: https://www.geekwire.com/2022/amazon-is-shutting-down-its-cloud-storage-service-amazon-drive/

That's an entirely different, and rarely used, service from Amazon photos.

Amazon Drive is different than Amazon Photos. It's more general-purpose and doesn't offer "free" storage (unlimited for Prime members, 5 GB for other Amazon customers) for non-photo/video files.

Amazon – What Is the Difference between Amazon Photos and Amazon Drive?

Still, you manage both using the "Amazon Photos" desktop app. If you're not a Prime member and you go to rent storage, I believe it is shared between Photos and Drive.

 

[foot]

... the free is most likely temporary.
But what is the catch in the immediate now?

You have to pay for a Prime subscription in order to get the 'free' unlimited photo storage. Also, that plan limits storage for files of any other types (video, for example) to 5GB.

I have used the prime backup for many years. The Windows upload app can be a little crazy at times but it works.

My only issue is Amazon keeps bugging me to pay for video storage. I don't want to pay for video storage. Maybe I just missed the option, but is there a way to say don't back up videos?

BTW, Amazon photos includes backup of RAW files. Great bargain if you are a Prime customer.

I just read about this, I don't have any other information..

https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=23943055011

"Frequently Asked Questions:
Amazon Drive Deprecation

Q: Why is Amazon Drive being deprecated?
A: We are taking the opportunity to more fully focus our efforts on Amazon Photos to provide customers a dedicated solution for photos and video storage.

Q: When will Amazon Drive be deprecated?
A: After December 31, 2023, customers will no longer have access to their files in Amazon Drive.

Q: Are there any Amazon Drive service changes that will occur between now and December 31, 2023?
A: Yes, on October 31, 2022, the Amazon Drive app will be removed from the iOS and Android app stores. On January 31, 2023, Amazon will no longer support uploading files on the Amazon Drive website. You will still be able to view and download your files until December 31, 2023."

 

[Mark B.]

It's going to be a lot less useful: https://www.geekwire.com/2022/amazon-is-shutting-down-its-cloud-storage-service-amazon-drive/

“We are taking the opportunity to more fully focus our efforts on Amazon Photos to provide customers a dedicated solution for photos and video storage,” Amazon says in an FAQ.

I never used Amazon Drive. Looks like Amazon Photos is getting more focus, so it looks positive to me.

I honestly didn't know about Amazon Drive. All their marketing has been pushing Amazon Photos.

 

[Kokopelli_Rocks]

It's going to be a lot less useful: https://www.geekwire.com/2022/amazon-is-shutting-down-its-cloud-storage-service-amazon-drive/

“We are taking the opportunity to more fully focus our efforts on Amazon Photos to provide customers a dedicated solution for photos and video storage,” Amazon says in an FAQ.

I never used Amazon Drive. Looks like Amazon Photos is getting more focus, so it looks positive to me.

I honestly didn't know about Amazon Drive. All their marketing has been pushing Amazon Photos.

Same, I have been using Amazon Photos for years. I have been an Amazon Prime customer for over 14 years. Professorially I would a lot with AWS. My company hosts SaaS software in AWS.

Until yesterday when people who can't read tried to imply Amazon Drive was Amazon Photos. I finally heard about Amazon Drive. Not a big service and thus no reason for Amazon to continue. I am not sure why people just read headlines. The article was short, but very clear that Amazon Photos not only continues but is now the focus.

 

[Chris Dubea]

I've used Amazon Drive for years as an offline backup of my image catalog. Some 80k images as of right now.

I specifically bought a Synology NAS, from Amazon, because of the cloud backup app which worked with Amazon Drive.

Amazon deprecated the API for that, so I was forced to manually drag and drop images into Drive. Not honourous but definitely not automatic.

Now this.

The Amazon sync app won't sync mapped drives, so nothing on the NAS. And it's quirky at best. I've tried it once or twice and rapidly deleted it.

I'm not interested in all the foo foo features they are developing, just wanted a safe place to backup my images.

I'm seriously thinking about ending my Prime membership as now I'm going to have to find somewhere else to backup my images.

To the previous poster, Photos is merely a front end to Drive at this point. Any images in Drive show up in Photos.

--
Chris

 

[peter826]

I use Drive to upload my photos, which show in Amazon Photos as they use the same storage. Amazon photos is pretty useless for me as it doesn't seem to allow one to see or create folders. It uses tags or dates or even faces to organzine photos, but I don't organize that way.

I am wondering how Drive going away will impact Photos...whether they will improve the interface. As it sits now, Photos is pretty useless for managing files. Drive is the better interface. The storage seems to be in the same place...anything put in /web/Pictures shows in Photos.

 

[Aberaeron]

I use Drive to upload my photos, which show in Amazon Photos as they use the same storage. Amazon photos is pretty useless for me as it doesn't seem to allow one to see or create folders. It uses tags or dates or even faces to organzine photos, but I don't organize that way.

I am wondering how Drive going away will impact Photos...whether they will improve the interface. As it sits now, Photos is pretty useless for managing files. Drive is the better interface. The storage seems to be in the same place...anything put in /web/Pictures shows in Photos.

It surely isn’t meant to manage files. It is meant to be a second or third backup storage medium that can be accessed through the account by any machine anywhere.

It may evolve to be something else but at the moment it is what it is.

 

[Gam3r01]

I use Drive to upload my photos, which show in Amazon Photos as they use the same storage. Amazon photos is pretty useless for me as it doesn't seem to allow one to see or create folders. It uses tags or dates or even faces to organzine photos, but I don't organize that way.

I am wondering how Drive going away will impact Photos...whether they will improve the interface. As it sits now, Photos is pretty useless for managing files. Drive is the better interface. The storage seems to be in the same place...anything put in /web/Pictures shows in Photos.

Amazon photos absolutely has an Album (folder) functionality.

When you upload a set of pictures create a new album and upload them there. They will be added to the main gallery, but will be sortable by albums.

 

[peter826]

I use Drive to upload my photos, which show in Amazon Photos as they use the same storage. Amazon photos is pretty useless for me as it doesn't seem to allow one to see or create folders. It uses tags or dates or even faces to organzine photos, but I don't organize that way.

I am wondering how Drive going away will impact Photos...whether they will improve the interface. As it sits now, Photos is pretty useless for managing files. Drive is the better interface. The storage seems to be in the same place...anything put in /web/Pictures shows in Photos.

Amazon photos absolutely has an Album (folder) functionality.

When you upload a set of pictures create a new album and upload them there. They will be added to the main gallery, but will be sortable by albums.

OK...and it looks like you can convert an existing folder to an album through the Drive. So that may be the best way to convert everything before the Drive interface goes away.

 

[Messier Object]

... the free is most likely temporary.
But what is the catch in the immediate now?

You have to pay for a Prime subscription in order to get the 'free' unlimited photo storage. Also, that plan limits storage for files of any other types (video, for example) to 5GB.

Having a Prime subscription isn’t sufficient to qualify for unlimited photo storage. You must also reside in specific regions/countries otherwise the photo limit is 5GB same as video

Peter

 

[All Bushs Fault]

I just found out that Amazon has a service for unlimited backing up of full resolution photos. It seems to me there would be some kind of catch.
The first catch of course, unsaid, is that after using their service for a few years they will charge to keep you existing photos - the free is most likely temporary.
But what is the catch in the immediate now?

By now, I am sure you have been made aware that you have to purchase Amazon Prime for $139 per year to get this "service". Amazon Prime's best and original benefit is free two day shipping (or sooner) on goods bought on Amazon if you live in large metropolitan areas. If you buy Prime just for Amazon Photo, it would be an incredibly bad deal vs other storage services. I use Amazon for a large portion of my purchases yearly so the photo storage was an excellent additional benefit.

Regarding the "catch", the service can be discontinued at any time. That's what they just did last week with Amazon Drive. Amazon Drive was the only interface I knew about until last week. It is a virtual drive. Amazon Drive shows you your folders, sub folders and file names like any drive on your computer. Amazon Drive was discontinued last week and users have until Dec 2023 to move their files somewhere else.

Files on Amazon Drive are supposed to be ported over to Amazon Photos. So far, I cannot find all of my RAWs on Amazon Photo. Files like sidecars do not qualify as photo-type files. Also, some RAW types are not supported by Amazon Photo according to a poster in another thread.

Amazon Photos interface is photo-centric. It looks like they are trying to be like Flicker. If you prefer sorting your files by their names and arranging them in folders of your choosing, you will be frustrated with Amazon Photos. You can arrange your photos into albums but sub-albums or any further sorting does not appear available.

 

[Winterfrost]

I just found out that Amazon has a service for unlimited backing up of full resolution photos. It seems to me there would be some kind of catch.
The first catch of course, unsaid, is that after using their service for a few years they will charge to keep you existing photos - the free is most likely temporary.
But what is the catch in the immediate now?

I'd not trust Amazon for hosting my very own, private memories, aka photographs, into their Amazon cloud. Maybe they'd sell your pictures at some point, use it for advertising campaigns, etc...we don't know. I've a bad feeling about this, when your own, private property is out of your hands - because someone is being lazy, and don't care about data security.

 

[Tom_N]

Files on Amazon Drive are supposed to be ported over to Amazon Photos. So far, I cannot find all of my RAWs on Amazon Photo. Files like sidecars do not qualify as photo-type files. Also, some RAW types are not supported by Amazon Photo according to a poster in another thread.

Amazon's site says that Amazon Photos supports "some RAW format files."

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GGU2SU8Y22DZYRMQ