Google’s Drive and Photo cloud services are essential backup tools for many photographers. It’s therefore important to be aware that both apps for Mac and PC will be eliminated soon. Support will end on December 11th, 2017, and the apps will be shut down completely on March 12th, 2018.

Don’t worry too much, though. A replacement for both apps in the shape of the newer Google Backup and Sync app has already been put into place. The new app does what it says on the tin and lets you backup and sync photos and files from folders on your computer, USB drives and memory cards to the cloud. The main difference to the Drive/Photos combination is that photos and other file types are handled by the same app rather than by two different ones.

So, overall the way you work with the Google cloud services won’t change too much. Google also says it will alert current Drive and Photos users about the requirement to migrate to the new system. Backup and Sync is available for download on the Google website now. More information on how Backup and Sync works is available in the Google Help Center.