Google knows everything about me. I have a Pixel and pay for Google One to have more storage. Of all the services, the one I use the most without a doubt is Google Photos. I'm not particularly fond of photography, but I do tend to take photos here and there using my cell phone camera. And over the years my collection on Google Photos It has grown to levels that even scare me a little..
I once tried eliminating all Google services from my routine for two weeks, but the convenience of having everything in one place has ended up outweighing the desire to maintain my privacy. Once I gave in to them, at least I tried to take advantage of it.
And the truth is that The Google Photos search engine is one of the big ones covered. From it I can find almost everything that interests me about my past life. By having so many photos it is very easy to associate it with every moment of your life. And the idea is that searching through photos is easier than not searching through the calendar or Google Maps timeline. Because? Well, for example, because you can remember that you ate a pizza, but you don't remember which pizzeria it was or what day it was.
The Search section of Google Photos has a large number of options and is updated more or less periodically. First of all we have the search for people, by faces. Also pets. For those closest to us, it may not be so useful, but the Face search works very well to remember when you met a certain person.
Google Photos also has all your photos classified. They know perfectly what is in each of them. And the search engine allows you to search for things. If we put pizza, if we put snake, if we put beer, if we put castles, concerts… sometimes we are talking about a specific topic and having quick access to “that time” is very useful.
Once I was discussing whether on a certain trip we ate ramen in one town or another. We couldn't agree and I opened Google Photos and quickly found it saying “ramen”. If I had had to search photo by photo it would have taken a long time. And it works with everything.
Another option in the Google Photos search engine that has acquired a worrying dimension over time is the photo map. I have basically a heat map of all the parts of the world I've been to. It is true that it is not completely accurate, because I have been to many places and did not take photos, but it is easy to use and you can remember what you visited or saw in that area simply by passing your finger over it.
Another utility that I consider quite practical is to scan documents. I take photos of all types of receipts and papers and then I can search for them quickly. Normally I throw those papers away, but the Having the image saved allows me not to worry in case I have to review them again in the future.
My use of Google Photos started out of convenience but I have ended up using it more than necessary. And the search engine has become my best ally. When I have a question and want to remember something, I always go to Google Photos first. AND I almost always end up finding what I was looking for.. Whether it's remembering a day, who I was with or what I wore to that event. It's a privacy nightmare, but since I've given them access to my entire life at least it's useful.
In Xataka | Google Photos: 32 tricks (and some extra) to get the most out of managing your photos
