How good are Online Photo Albums? Top 7 Online Photo Album App Recommendations

1 December 2022 by
Apryl Zhang

With the popularity of smartphones, these devices have become an indispensable tool in modern people's lives. With ever-improving camera technology and photo quality, we can easily capture unforgettable moments anytime, anywhere. However, photographs frequently occupy a large amount of storage space on our phones. As for the analogue photographs that have been developed in the past, it is difficult to avoid fading and yellowing over time. Hong Kong's property prices are also expensive, and it is challenging to find space to store lots of thick photo albums. To solve the above problems, digitising photos and backing all of your photos to an online photo album can be the ideal solution.

What is an Online Photo Album?

An online photo album is a cloud service hosted online where digitised photos are stored. Many technology giants like Google, Amazon and Microsoft provide online photo album services and offer a variety of service plans based on storage capacity and functions. You can simply use the online photo album apps to access your photos on any device.

Benefits of an Online Photo Album

When digital photos are uploaded to the cloud, you can browse and share photos anytime, anywhere through electronic devices without being limited by the amount of storage space of your mobile phone or computer. After your analogue photos are digitised into digital format and stored in the online photo album, you also no longer have to worry about finding a space to store the physical album. In addition, the photos uploaded to an online photo album are extremely secure, which greatly reduces the chance of losing your personal data due to hardware loss or damage. All of your precious memories can be preserved forever.

Start by digitising your old photos!

Capture HK provides automatic upload to Google Photos after digitisation of analogue media

7 Online Photo Album Apps Comparison

Google Photos

Introduction

Launched by Google, originally a photo album service for Google+, it became an independent service in 2015. It stores photos and videos and has a web version.

Function & storage

Function: Automatic backup, automatic photo sorting , intelligent search

Storage: 15 GB free storage; 100 GB, 200 GB, and 2 TB

Supported mobile models

Android, iOS

Storage time*
Permanent
(If the account has been inactive for two years, the stored content may be affected.)
Pros
Easy to use, suitable for people who lack of time to organise photos
Cons
Higher fee
Fees(Personal user)
  • First 15GB: Free
  • 100GB:$15/month, $150/year
  • 200GB:$23/month, $230/year
  • 2TB:$79/month, $799/year


Apple iCloud

Introduction

Created by Apple to store music, photos, application data, files, contacts, and calendars, etc.

Function & storage

Function: Instantly sync to all devices owned by the same account and supports iCloud sync

Capacity: Free 5GB storage; 50GB, 200GB and 2TB

Supported mobile models

iOS

Storage time*
Permanent
Pros
Convenience for iOS users, premium plan includes extra features like hidden email and customised email domains, etc.
Cons
Non-iOS users may find it difficult to use.
Fees(Personal user)
  • First 5GB for free
  • 50GB:$8/month
  • 200GB:$23/month
  • 2TB:$78/month


The Cheapest Old Photos to Digital Service in HK👇🏻

ONLY
 HKD $2.00/Photograph

Pricing

Flickr

Introduction

Created by the Canadian company Ludicorp and merged by Yahoo in 2005. SmugMug, a professional image gallery service provider, purchased it in 2018.

Function & storage

Function: Community is the fundamental idea, and users can follow each other and upload photos 


Capacity: Free account can store 1000 full-resolution photos or high-definition videos. In contrast, the charged plan offers unlimited storage space.

Supported mobile models

Android, iOS

Storage time*
Permanent
(Users with free accounts will be deleted if they have not logged in for more than 90 consecutive days)
Pros
No need to compress photos to save space, share in social media and interact with photographers
Cons
Higher fee
Fees(Personal user)
  • Monthly Fee: US$6.99
  • Annual fee: US$71.99
  • Two-year plan: US$132.99

(The above price does not include tax)


pCloud

Introduction

pCloud was founded in 2013 by a Swiss company

Function & storage

Capacity: Free 10GB storage;500 GB,2TB,10TB

Supported mobile models

Android, iOS, Windows Mobile

Storage time*
Permanent
Pros
Two-factor authentication function and provide a buyout plan
Cons
The mobile application’s user interface is currently only available in English
Fees(Personal user)

Get up to 10GB free capacity after completing specific tasks

Annual payment plan

  • 500 GB: $49.9 per year
  • 2TB: $99.9 per year

Buyout Plan

  • 500GB: US$200
  • 2TB: US$400
  • 10TB: US$1200


Dropbox

Introduction

Founded in 2007 by MIT students

Function & storage

Function: Data restoration function within 30 days


Capacity: 2GB for free version; 2TB, 3TB and 5TB or more or enterprise plan

Supported mobile models

Android, iOS, Windows Mobile

Storage time*
Permanent
Pros
Easy to use, suitable for storing any file types
Cons
Higher fee
Fees(Personal user)
  • Free 2GB capacity
  • 2TB: US$11.99 per month / US$120 per year
  • 3TB: US$19.99 per month / US$198 per year
  • Enterprise plan: 5TB or more


MEGA

Introduction

MEGA was developed by Mega Limited and launched in New Zealand in 2013.

Function & storage

Function: Focus on privacy, point-to-point encryption for data when uploading

Capacity: 20 GB free storage; available in 400GB, 2TB, 8TB and 16TB

Supported mobile models

Android, iOS

Storage time*
Permanent
Pros
All shared links are securely encrypted, and the computer app and mobile app can be synchronised and backed up in real time.
Cons
Complex interface
Fees(Personal user)
  • 20 GB free storage
  • 400GB: $38.7 per month / $386.54 per year
  • 2TB: $77.4 per month / $773.16 per year
  • 8TB: $154.9 per month / $1,546.40 per year
  • 16TB: $232.4 per month / $2,319.64 per year


OneDrive

Introduction

Onedrive is a cloud-based storage service that integrates Microsoft Office software services

Function & storage

Function: The mobile app has a gallery synchronisation function, which automatically sorts photos by the scene.

Capacity: 5GB free storage; providing 100GB

Supported mobile models

Android、iOS、Windows Mobile

Storage time*
Permanent
Pros
Windows system interface is user-friendly
Cons
Slow access to non-Windows system devices
Fees(Personal user)
  • Free use of 5GB capacity
  • 1TB of storage for Office 365 Personal subscribers
  • 100GB cloud service: $15 per month

*Account inactivity policies vary from platform to platform. Users are advised to review relevant policies to prevent storage capacity interruption caused by inactive accounts.

Start by digitising your analogue media!

Capture HK digitise a variety of media including photo album, photographs, videotapes and digital media

How to choose a online photo album?

The above 7 popular online photo albums have their own advantages and disadvantages. You can choose according to your own needs, such as:

  • The amount of storage that you need
  • Additional file types that you need to store
  • Choose a service with encryption if privacy is more important
  • Choose a family/group plan if you share storage space with your family. It may be more economical.

Digitise your Precious Photos NOW!

Capture.HK’s photo album digitissation service can efficiently digitise each photo allowing you to easily view it on electronic devices and pass on your precious photos to future generations. We use a touchless digitisation process and proprietary digitisation technology to ensure that photos are never removed from your album which prevents damage. Moreover, we can upload your digitised photos to Google Photos, so you can instantly view and share them with loved ones wherever you are. The best and safest way to protect your memories is with digital photos stored in the cloud on Google Photos. This lowers the possibility of losing your priceless memories.

Learn more about Capture HK Photo Album Digitisation and Photograph Digitisation now!


*This article is brought to you by Capture HK.

Capture HK is the premier analogue media digitisation company in Hong Kong.

Capture HK's business covers photographs, photo album digitisation, videotapes digitisation, including VHS, S-VHS, VHS-C, S-VHS-C Hi-8, Video8, Digital8, DV, DVCAM, MiniDV, DVC and digital media digitisation, including Secure Digital (SD), Smart Media (SM), MultiMediaCard (MMC) Compact Flash (CF), xD-Picture Card, Memory Stick, USB Drive, CDROM, DVD.

Join Our Community Now!

Get more valuable insights and latest discounts straight to your inbox.