Certain software tools see a peak demand during specific periods. When I’m vacationing, it’s usually the camera app, Google Maps, and the Google Photos app on my phone.
Google Photos is an interesting example among these because it remains as important, if not more, in the days after a vacation. However, this is limited to people who use Google Photos as their photo storage app.
I’m one of them, especially because Google Photos packs handy tools that work well both during and after a vacation. There are valid reasons Google doesn’t market them as such, but there is no harm in thinking of them that way when planning a vacation.
However, when it comes to post-vacation, I rely on only one Google Photos feature because it feels like a lifesaver. I regard this Google Photos feature so highly because it has fixed my biggest post-vacation headache. Here is how.
Vacation photos are a pain to deal with later
And Google Photos knows the answer
After my vacation is over, I rarely revisit the photos I took. But I still take plenty of photos because Google Photos’ Memory feature resurfaces those at the right time.
However, it isn’t as simple when I go on vacation to enjoy myself with friends whom I haven’t met in years. We keep asking each other to share photos we took on our phones.
I haven’t asked any of my friends about what they feel about this, but I don’t like sending the link to my album to each one of them individually.
That’s why I was excited when I heard the rumors last year that Google was working on a QR Code sharing capability. It stayed in the testing phase longer than I’d like, but it’s always better late than never.
The QR Code sharing feature works smoothly in Google Photos. Tap the album you want to share, select the three-dot view option, and click Sharing.
Next, tap the Show QR code button, which lets another Android phone scan it and access all the photos in that album.
This differs from Quick Share, a system-level file-sharing tool that lets you send images from Google Photos to another Android phone.
On the other hand, the QR code button in Google Photos is designed to share albums and moments specifically with Photos users.
Google Photos’ built-in QR Code feature requires almost no effort from my side. But if I want stills from someone else, I tell them to upload their photos to the album I shared.
However, this requires additional effort. You’ll need to tweak the Sharing settings option to let others upload photos. You must enable the Collaborate toggle in the Sharing settings.
This is a big enough reason to use Google Photos’ QR Code sharing feature instead of the system-level file-sharing tool.
While this can quickly eat into Google Photos storage, this is the easiest way to get the best photos from your friends. I love it because it requires only a couple of taps.
I didn’t realize how much time this would save me
Now, my photo work ends with my vacation
The QR Code sharing functionality in Google Photos isn’t a deal-breaker if I go on a vacation with a couple of friends. But it’s a different story when the group exceeds three.
The larger the group, the more you’ll appreciate how handy the QR Code sharing functionality is. This isn’t only about saving time; it removes a headache when I should be thinking about how good the vacation was.
I would rather reflect on the vacation when it ends than worry about whether everyone, including myself, has the photos they want.
My photo work ends with my vacation because I finally found the QR Code sharing capability in the Google Photos app.
The QR Code sharing is great, but I have one small complaint
When someone scans the QR Code and gets access to my albums, they can download all the photos as a ZIP file. I also love being able to let users choose which account they want to open the albums on.
When I get access to someone else’s album, I download it on my phone and leave the album. However, anyone can exploit the convenience by sharing the link to your album with more people.
There should have been an option to prevent third-party sharing without the owner’s permission. This would make the Google Photos trick even more useful. But since that’s not the case right now, I need to be cautious about who I let in.
Now that we’re only a few months away from the year ending, I hope to see this small change in Google Photos next year.
