Google has changed the online storage industry and added new pricing plans. Google One is the new name of the company’s paid storage platform. This allows you to store a variety of data, including documents from Google Drive and images from Google Photos. Google Drive is still a free document storage service, but paid storage has moved to Google One.
What’s the difference between Google One and Google Drive?
Both Google Drive and Google One are subscription plans that give you storage for Google’s suite of cloud apps, including Google Docs, Google Photos, and Gmail.
Google Drive is cloud storage for files and documents that you can access from any device. You can also create files from Google Drive and work offline. Google Drive is encrypted, so all your files are safe. The way you store your files in Google Drive remains the same.
With Google One, Google has opened up its free help, providing 24/7 customer service for all Google One customers. Previously, it was only available to G Suite business users. In the US, this support is available through chat, phone, and email.
What devices can you use Google One on?
It’s possible to use Google One on the same devices that you use to access Google Drive. Since Google One runs in the cloud, it’s accessible from any computer and available for iOS and Android devices.
To use Google One from a tablet or smartphone, you need to download an app. To do this, all you have to do is go to the App Store or Play Market and get the Google One app. Then sign in to your account and start using it for your purposes.
You can also use Google One and Google Drive in any browser. All you have to do is open the site and sign in to your account.
What about plans and prices?
Paid Google Drive accounts had the option to expand the free 15GB you get using a Google account to 100GB for $1.99 a month, with 1TB for $9.99 a month, and 10TB for $99.99.
Now back to the new Google One – prices for the current plans remain the same; however, Google One adds a 200GB plan for $2.99 per month and replaces the 1TB plan, increasing it to 2TB for the same price. (Subscribers to the 1TB plan have been upgraded at no additional cost.) 2TB for $9.99 per month makes this cloud storage service one of the cheapest available. It has twice as much Dropbox Plus storage, which offers 1 GB for $9.99 a month. You can also share storage space with up to five family members.
Google One also has updated web and mobile interfaces. Users can manage their storage, access files, change their plans and use some of the added features. These changes are for Google’s consumer suite and don’t affect G Suite’s business offerings.
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What features do you get?
Google One subscribers get access to several additional features. One of the biggest is direct access to Google Experts. This feature allows you to instantly connect with a live representative by phone, chat or email 24/7. Experts can help you with any problem with any Google product or service.
Other member benefits include credits in the Google Play store and special discounts, such as offers for hotels you search on Google. The company promises that this will add more benefits in the future.
The new customer service platform and additional benefits make Google One more than just cloud storage; it’s a central interface for interacting with your Google products and further integrating between the web and your device.
Extensive storage options allow you to store large amounts of data, which is especially useful when multimedia files, such as 4K videos, become more loaded. Google’s free backup and sync tool synchronize your files so you can access them from the cloud and your computer, and any changes you make to your files are added to both versions.
An advantage for people using Android phones and tablets is backup and restore. It makes it easy to back up things like device data, media from text messages, and photos and videos. You can then use Google One to restore your new device.
If privacy and security are important to you, Google One also offers a members-only VPN. “VPN by Google One” can be enabled on Android devices for members with a 2TB plan or higher.
Anyway, Google One is a consumer service, its many storage options make it a valuable backup solution for small businesses that need to back up multiple computers and mobile devices but don’t necessarily want other G Suite products. As cloud storage becomes cheaper compared to other services and products such as Apple’s iCloud, other cloud storage services may need more features and benefits to stay competitive.
