"What part of 'turn on the backup sync, then uninstall the app' left you 'feeling' that you'd emphatically turned off backup?"
Maybe the part where I turned on backup sync SEEMINGLY entirely within Google Photos, and then uninstalled the app, which, from a reasonable person's perspective, would make it seem the backup wouldn't apply because Google Photos SEEMINGLY controls that function. It's pretty clear in the video why that's a problem, but if you don't think it is, then that's fine, too. Good for you.
Hi. I'm the idiot you're talking about. See above conversation and note that you're making a slight, yet important, misrepresentation here. I had backup disabled through G+. Later, I installed Photos, and must have not disabled backup through the Photos app before I uninstalled it a day or two after install. A month later, a bunch of my photos taken after uninstall were on the Google Photos web site. I understand NOW that Photos is tied to is an Android function, but that's emphatically NOT clear from actually using the Photos app.
I think it's like removing the engine and steering wheel from a car, and then finding it still drives you to work every morning and back.
It's not what you expect, and the part you missed was your manufacturer, in an attempt to "help" you, had automated most of the functionality and put in multiple engines. The one you removed was just the thing that helped with the power steering.
Hi. I'm David, the guy who wrote the original story. Not a regular slashdot reader, let alone commenter, but figured I'd chime in to possibly add to your conversation. This analogy is precisely how I felt things went down with my experience on the phone. For what it's worth, I am/was aware that Google could sync my photos to G+, but had turned that off (as well as everything else with G+ that I could) when I got the device. I recall turning off the photo sync WITHIN G+ (I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that was how I did it), which kind of matters for what followed.
When I downloaded Google Photos, I -- very reasonably, I believe -- figured that photo sync would be controlled by options within Google Photos. As you can see in the video, I set the backup sync entirely within the app, and then uninstalled. It's perfectly reasonable to believe the backup sync is controlled by Google Photos The App and is not an Android function.
Think about it this way, too: If I uninstall Google Photos, then decide I want to sync my pictures with Google's backup, where should I be expected to see them on the web if I don't have Google Photos on my phone? From the user's perspective there's "nowhere" for Google to put them in that case, and "no app" that governs the photo-syncing process. If that happens, perhaps I should be prompted to download the Google Photos app in order to make it clear that's where my photos are going.
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"What part of 'turn on the backup sync, then uninstall the app' left you 'feeling' that you'd emphatically turned off backup?" Maybe the part where I turned on backup sync SEEMINGLY entirely within Google Photos, and then uninstalled the app, which, from a reasonable person's perspective, would make it seem the backup wouldn't apply because Google Photos SEEMINGLY controls that function. It's pretty clear in the video why that's a problem, but if you don't think it is, then that's fine, too. Good for you.
Hi. I'm the idiot you're talking about. See above conversation and note that you're making a slight, yet important, misrepresentation here. I had backup disabled through G+. Later, I installed Photos, and must have not disabled backup through the Photos app before I uninstalled it a day or two after install. A month later, a bunch of my photos taken after uninstall were on the Google Photos web site. I understand NOW that Photos is tied to is an Android function, but that's emphatically NOT clear from actually using the Photos app.
I think it's like removing the engine and steering wheel from a car, and then finding it still drives you to work every morning and back.
It's not what you expect, and the part you missed was your manufacturer, in an attempt to "help" you, had automated most of the functionality and put in multiple engines. The one you removed was just the thing that helped with the power steering.
Hi. I'm David, the guy who wrote the original story. Not a regular slashdot reader, let alone commenter, but figured I'd chime in to possibly add to your conversation. This analogy is precisely how I felt things went down with my experience on the phone. For what it's worth, I am/was aware that Google could sync my photos to G+, but had turned that off (as well as everything else with G+ that I could) when I got the device. I recall turning off the photo sync WITHIN G+ (I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that was how I did it), which kind of matters for what followed. When I downloaded Google Photos, I -- very reasonably, I believe -- figured that photo sync would be controlled by options within Google Photos. As you can see in the video, I set the backup sync entirely within the app, and then uninstalled. It's perfectly reasonable to believe the backup sync is controlled by Google Photos The App and is not an Android function. Think about it this way, too: If I uninstall Google Photos, then decide I want to sync my pictures with Google's backup, where should I be expected to see them on the web if I don't have Google Photos on my phone? From the user's perspective there's "nowhere" for Google to put them in that case, and "no app" that governs the photo-syncing process. If that happens, perhaps I should be prompted to download the Google Photos app in order to make it clear that's where my photos are going.