Earlier this year, we saw that Google Photos was changing how it handles photos that have not been edited yet and saves backups on Android phones. This new format is now available, and it gives unedited photos more importance. However, it also has some downsides.
On a Pixel 8 phone that had previously taken unedited photos with the Camera app, Google Photos now shows a message: “New unedited photos will appear in your Photos and will automatically be saved as a backup.”
When you now take an unedited photo, it automatically uploads to your Google Photos backup and shows up in your main Photos gallery. You’ll see the word “RAW” in the top right corner. If you open that photo, there’s a button at the bottom to also view the edited version. Unedited photos let you “Set as main photo” or “Keep this photo only,” while edited photos let you “Export this photo” or “Keep this photo only.”
Unedited photos take up a lot more space than edited ones since they haven’t been compressed yet. Google automatically uploading them to the cloud could easily use up your mobile data if you aren’t careful. There also isn’t an obvious way to change the settings to stop unedited photos from being uploaded.
It may also fill up the storage space in your Google account more quickly. In the past, I transferred unedited photos to my computer using a USB cable to avoid using cloud storage for them.
The folder in Google Photos that used to hold only unedited photos is no longer there. New unedited photos just show up in your main Photos gallery with everyone else. At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be a simple way to only see your unedited photos.
So in short, Google Photos now automatically saves your unedited photos to your backup and gallery. While this gives unedited photos more attention, it can risk using up your mobile data and online storage quicker if you aren’t careful. Let me know if any part of this explanation needs more clarification!
