These two phones have been on the market for about 3.5 years, and from today on, they can not use one of the valuable features of Google Photos. “free unlimited online original-quality storage for all photos and videos uploaded to Google Photos from Pixel 3 through 1/31/2022,” Google noted in its announcement. Google has stated that this restriction is because of the high demand for storage. Therefore, the company has to provide users with only 15 GB of free storage. This is part of Google’s plans to end its 3-year update and support period for its products. Google believes that providing continuous security and OS updates for three years will create a good customer experience. At the end of the three years, many customers will have to buy newer Google phones like the Pixel 6. The Pixel 3 is also at the end of its three-year period. The phone will receive a cumulative update in Q1 2022, which will be the latest official update from Google.
Google is ending support for the Pixel 3 series
Despite being deprived of getting unlimited backups in Google Photos at original quality, Pixel 3 owners can use “Storage Saver” for unlimited uploads. “After January 31, 2022, new photos and videos will be backed up in Storage saver quality (previously named High quality) at no charge. Photos and videos backed up in Original quality will count toward your Google Account storage.” Google noted. The “unlimited storage forever” was one of the strengths of the Pixel phones. Also, Google placed a lot of emphasis on it in marketing these products. The feature came out in 2016. Google could use unlimited storage as a competitive advantage. However, the company’s restrictions and high demand for storage have led Google to make such a decision. On the other hand, eliminating unlimited storage can lead users to third-party storage services such as Dropbox.
