Google’s Unlimited Photo Storage is Back, But Only for T-Mobile Users

For those who miss Google’s unlimited photo storage, T-Mobile is bringing it back. The cellular provider has announced a Google One cloud plan that promises to allow users to upload unlimited photos included with a T-Mobile subscription.

Spotted by Droid Life, T-Mobile has announced a partnership with Google that brings the ability to storage to keep photos and videos in the cloud using Google One. Customers can already access two lower tiers for $5 and $10 that bring 500GB or 2TB of storage respectively, but T-Mobile will soon be adding a third tier for $15 that provides 2TB of storage in Gmail and Drive as well as the promise of unlimited storage space for photos and videos.

Google famously retired its unlimited photo storage option in June of last year after warning users that it would be removing the option six months prior.

“This change also allows us to keep pace with the growing demand for storage,” Shimrit Ben-Yair, Vice President of Google Photos said of the change at the time.

The tech giant has brought back the unlimited option, but not in its free form that photographers once enjoyed. Even more restrictive, it is only available to T-Mobile customers.

“This unique offering gives customers unlimited space for all their photos and videos, plus a whopping 2TB of storage for Gmail and Drive,” T-Mobile advertises. “Perfect for unofficial family photographers and video enthusiasts to keep a lifetime of trips, pet videos, and family memories saved all in one place. Exclusively for T-Mobile customers.”

For those who are already subscribers to Google One and also are T-Mobile customers, this deal seems like a no-brainer. For everyone else, it sounds like a lot of hassle to gain access to a service that was once free for everyone.

The plan is intrinsically linked with a T-Mobile plan and is included and would renew monthly along with the cellular bill. That means it doesn’t sound like there will be a way to easily fold an existing Google One account into an unlimited one and the unlimited option likely expires should a person cancel their T-Mobile subscription. T-Mobile also doesn’t say how long it intends to keep its partnership with Google going to continue to allow customers to upload an unlimited number of full-resolution images to Google One.