If you’ve used an iPhone, you probably know that it’s very easy to back up your content automatically with iCloud. However, if you decide to switch to another service, it is not necessarily easy. Fortunately, Apple has made it a lot easier by providing a tool to export your iCloud photos and videos to Google Photos.
There are some prerequisites for this process, including enough storage in your Google Photos account and two-factor authentication on your Apple account, if you have not already done so. After you begin the transfer process, it will take three to seven days to complete, which Apple considers necessary to verify that the request was directed by you and to complete the data transfer. However, if you add or delete files during the process, Apple says that there is a chance that it may not be copied to Google Photos. It is therefore better to add it manually once it is complete.
Although images are preserved in their albums, videos are not, and only the latest version of a file is copied to Google Photos. Smart Albums, Live Photos, and Photo Stream Content cannot be transferred to Google Photos. Similarly, some metadata and RAW files may be lost when you copy files. In the end, duplicates only appear once, which helps you save space in your destination folder, but can be annoying if you did it on purpose in the first place. After it’s transferred to Google Photos, the filename of albums and videos starts with ‘Copy from’, so you’ll have to spend some time renaming it if you’re just like me.
The service is currently available in Australia, Canada, the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. To transfer your photos, go to privacy.apple.com and select a copy of your data.