On Wednesday at the third annual Google for Nigeria event, the tech giant launched Gallery Go, a Google Photos alternative for low spec’d phones that will organize photos using the same features Google Photos has but occupy less space and work offline too. Users should expect machine learning capabilities and photo editing tools to enhance their photos.
Gallery Go is aimed for users in developing countries who don’t have regular access to fast internet to back up their photos o the cloud and will probably come preinstalled in some Android Go devices such as the iTel S15 alongside other Android Go apps such as Gmail Go and YouTube Go.
Features both apps have in common
First and foremost, Google Photos and Gallery Go allow you to browse, organize and edit your photos. Both apps also allow you to copy photos from your MicroSD card.
You can use the editing features provided or use Google’s auto-enhance for one-tap editing. Just like its sibling, Gallery Go organize your photos in categories such as Videos, Selfies, People, Documents, Animals and Nature.
Differences between both apps
Google packed enough features for its Gallery Go app but some were left out to keep it small.
- You can’t access photos saved on the Cloud with the app and only photos on your phone will be available for viewing.
- The search bar prominent on Google Photos is absent on Gallery Go which will make it hard if you are trying to do a quick search on your photos.
- Some editing tools are missing such as the sliders for adjusting warmth, highlights, exposure and saturation that come in handy. If you’re not into editing the photos yourself, you can just use Google’s auto-enhance tool to let Google tweak the photo for you.
Where Gallery Go wins
The app works offline so users won’t need to have an internet connection to use the app. Gallery Go is a relatively smaller app weighing 8.5MB, unlike Google Photos that weighs at 27MB according to the Play Store. Even after installing, the app will still occupy less space and run relatively faster when compared to Google Photos.
In conclusion, Google Photos is a better app but its a progressive move for Google to also now have an alternative for its Android Go smartphones and other budget phones that come with limited storage especially for users in developing countries who don’t have access to high-speed internet.
Google Photos celebrates having a billion active users, Google now wants to reach the next billion users with Gallery Go.
“We’ve crossed this really critical milestone of a billion monthly users, and Gallery Go is how we think about the next billion.” ~ Anil Sabharwal, Google VP who led the creation of Google Photos.
