Google Photos Policy Update – 'High Quality' Now Uses Storage

I must say I'm not a bit surprised. This has became an industry standard:

1. Create a new amazing offer for clients with the promise that it's forever

2. Carefully write the TOS so you can change it in the future

3. Wait some time for users to board your platform with the promise of "forever" in mind

4. Change said offer so reduce costs, and keep the captive audience.

Slightly off topic --- why do phones that only offer an HD display have 20 megapixel cameras?

The phone itself can't display it. It's possible but unlikely the person has any display that can show the photo in true resolution.

I assume it's partially because people zoom / crop images?

So the cost of being able to zoom is data communication and storage consumption?

> why do phones that only offer an HD display have 20 megapixel cameras?

Digital zoom (both while shooting and after). Digital-to-print.

Also, marketing.

Google Photos Policy Update – 'High Quality' Now Uses Storage (support.google.com)