Re: Why does my samsung s22 ultra save different t... - Samsung Community

NC4 · ‎02-28-2023

I am totally new to Samsung and Android devices, so please forgive me and be kind and helpful! Suggestions and explanations are appreciated!! Thanks in advance for the help!!

Why does my samsung s22 ultra save different things, like photos, in 2 different places? I was attempting to transfer my photos from my old iPhone 7 to my s22 ultra and it saved them in gallery and Google photos. Why does it save them twice? Doesn't this use up twice as much space on my phone?

I also see 2 different internet options and other duplicate apps or whatever they are called. I don't understand why.

If I send my photos and videos and run some sort of duplicate photo finder, (SUGGESTIONS FOR A FREE, SAFE, AND GOOD DUPLICATE PHOTO, VIDEO, FILE FINDER AND CLEANER WOULD BE APPRECIATED!), will it search both the gallery and Google photos? Will the photo be considered duplicate because my s22 ultra put it in 2 places? If I check off to delete duplicates, will it erase from both apps?

I tried running a duplicate photo finder on my old iPhone, but that didn't help or find much.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions and support!!

Robin621k · ‎02-28-2023

It doesn't save the photos twice, Android is made by Google. It's baked into the software. I use both for different reasons.

NC4 · ‎03-01-2023

Hi. Thanks for responding. Could you explain further? Why in 2 different places and how they are used for different reasons?

I tried running a duplicate photo finder and erased he duplicates, but it only removed it from the gallery. So I erased everything and I will start fresh after I understand more.

There seems to be several "apps" that do the same thing. Why duplicate or triplicate apps that appear to do the same thing?

Thank you.

nicAsh83 · ‎02-28-2023

The gallery is on the device and Google is on google... you can change your settings to save in just the gallery or to automatically backup to google... instead of how you have it now. That way, other than the transfer, when u take pics they'll save to 1 instead of both... or keep them going to Google and just delete them from the device. As for the duplicate apps that's a Samsung thing... they have all the same things as Google just Samsung version & it's annoying. It used to be WAY worse, u couldn't delete them and had basically duplicate everything, but they've gotten better over the yrs. Wjen i switched to the galaxy from a regular android i was same as you are thinking **bleep** is with the duplicate apps & why is it wasting my storage... luckily they no lomger have as many but its still annoying... i just the Google apps and have never even used the Samsung internet or other stuff. Like I just got a new phone and am still stuck using the Samsung keyboard so I apologize for the typos, Googles is much better IMO. Just gotta go through and change all the defaults in your settings. Hope that helped 🤷‍:female_sign:

NC4 · ‎03-01-2023

Thanks. I definitely feel your struggle. If this is better, than I definitely would be even more confused.

How do you change the settings, which ones should be changed and changed to what? You would think there has to be a reason. So does that mean it's taking twice the space? Does only one get backed up so you don't lose it?

I am so confused!

Ray_Ginald · ‎02-28-2023

First of all, welcome to the world of Android and Samsung. You're going to have a really fun experience if, and only if, you learn the ropes on the OS.

To answer your first question, the photos you're transferring are saved both in your phone's main gallery and Google Photos because you probably have file backup enabled in Google Photos. Google Photos app is a cloud app much like iCloud but for photos, so when your gallery receives photos it automatically backs up those pictures to Google Photos so even if something happens to the pictures in your phone's gallery they'll be safe in Google Photos and you can always retrieve them from there. And no it doesn't use up twice as much space, your phone's gallery's photos only use the space on your phone while Google Photos has its own memory space allocated to each user which is around 15GB unless you buy more storage space, again, much like you would buy for an iCloud space.

Your second question - You're seeing two different internet options along with other duplicate apps because Samsung makes their own apps and Google also makes their own apps too, but since Android is owned by Google and Samsung's operating system and "skin" (One UI) is powered by Android that means Samsung, along with any other Android phone maker is also powered by Google and so they are not only obligated but also legally required to apply Google's products on their phones. So even if say, Samsung has its own version of an internet browser, they also have to add Google's own Chrome browser to the device otherwise that'll open up a whole otherworld of suits and litigations from Google. That's just the contractual agreement, if you use our operating system, then you also have to use our products as well.

Third question - If you use a duplicate photo finder, it will not count the photos in your phone's gallery and the same photos on Google Photos as duplicates. It will only search and find duplicates if there are two of the same photos in your phone's own gallery. If you check off "delete duplicates" it will only delete the duplicates in your phone's gallery, those on the Google Photos app will remain backed up there, so if you want to stop this you'll have to go into Google Photos and delete them or simply go to settings in Google Photos and turn off backup.
If it helps, Samsung has a built-in app called Samsung files, you can go there and use it to search for duplicate photos, videos and files.

Android Operating System is very different from Apple's iOS but unlike iOS Android offers a plethora of freedom via customization and choice among other things.

Hope this offered some clarity and help!

NC4 · ‎03-01-2023

Hi. Thanks so much for taking the time to explain and make suggestions!

My iPhone is my only Apple product. So this is definitely a new and confusing experience. At times it's made me regret changing, but I am hanging on, especially when nice people like you take the time not only to give a basic answer, but also explain their answers because I don't always understand the new terminology, systems, and you make great suggestions.

If Google photos is a backup of my photos, if my phone dies or something happens to the app, can I restore the photos like you would from a cloud or is it only a backup on my phone if something happens to gallery? If I have different folders for certain pictures, does that count as duplicates, because like in iPhone, there was already a folder with all pictures and then I made special folders to make it easier to find what I was looking for? Not sure if my s22 ultra allows you to do that too.

Do I need to backup my photos, videos, files to a cloud like I did with my iPhone? Are there specific places that you suggest to backup import things that you suggest? I don't want all my photos on my new phone, but I do want some and I don't want to lose the others. Can you delete duplicate apps to make more space?

Thank you for the answers and suggested workarounds.

Ray_Ginald · ‎03-01-2023

No problem, you're welcome.
To answer your first question, yes you can always restore the photos from the backup in the cloud even if you delete the Google Photos app or something happens to the photos in your phone's gallery. If you have different folders for certain pictures those folders will not count as duplicates unless you have the same exact picture in two different folders. But if you do have the same exact picture in two different folders, you can always rename one of the pictures so that way it tricks the phone into thinking it's a different photo. For example, if you have two folders named "Highschool" and "College" and you have two exact pictures named "my friends" in those two folders, you can always rename one of the pictures in any of the folders as "my friends 2" and that will make the phone think they are two different photos because of the "2" you added to one and it won't count them as duplicates. And yes, your S22 Ultra allows you to create folders as much as you like, just press and hold on a picture in your gallery and select other pictures you would like to move to a folder, then click the three vertical dots on the bottom right corner of the phone and select "move to folder" then select a folder to move them to. If there are no folders then click on create on the top right corner of the screen and give the folder a name and then select "move".

Second question - No, you don't have to backup your photos, videos, files to the cloud but it is advised that you do in the unforseen event that something goes wrong. And there's a cloud app called "OneDrive" from Microsoft Windows you can download, it allows you to save not only photos and videos but also files such as documents whereas Google photos only allows you to save photos and videos. If you only want specific photos on your new S22 Ultra, then I suggest you also download an app called "Smart Switch" made by Samsung, it allows you to import specific data such as pictures, files, videos, your messages and contacts on your iPhone 7 and even apps that you had on your iPhone too.
You can also delete duplicate apps if they are able to be deleted, if they can't simply tap and hold the app and select "disable" and it will hide the app from your phone like it wasn't there in the first place, that's the only workaround to remove apps that can't be deleted, although they won't freeup much space on your device if any.

Hope this helps! And if you need further help/explanation from my end just click on "reply" on this post.

NC4 · ‎03-19-2023

Hi. Thanks for your response.

So Google photos is a cloud app? Does it store photos in a different place than gallery does on the phone itself or is it a cloud storage where if your phone is stolen, the app crashes, etc. you can go to Google photos and just bring them back?

On my iPhone they have photos and an album that says recent where it keeps all of your photos, and then you can make new albums to put photos in, let's say "my dog" is the album I make and move the photos of my dog to the dog album. It puts the photos in the dog album, but the photos also stay in the recent album. Can you do that on the s22 ultra in the gallery or Google photos or both? Will that be considered a duplicate photo and thus taking up twice the space?

When I was trying to find and erase duplicates, when it says there's a duplicate and one picture says something like DCIM, (and I don't know what DCIM is), and the same photo I guess is from a folder. Are those really duplicates? If so, which one do I erase?

I know it's important to backup your phone, especially photos and things you don't want to lose. I think said Google photos backs up your photos and videos, but does it back them up on the phone or is the Google photos app like a cloud so if something happens to your phone, you still have them? I think you said One drive is a cloud storage but does it save the photos and files on the computer as well, is that correct?

My iPhone had icloud to back up pretty much the whole phone, so if your phone crashes, you can just restore it from the icloud storage. Does my s22 ultra have a cloud that backs up everything? If so, which one? I had to buy more icloud storage space to backup my phone, is there a cloud storage in the Google/Samsung world? Or do I have to back up each separately? Like photos, files, etc?

Thanks in advance!!

.

requa · ‎02-28-2023

I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding here. If you transferred photos to your phone, they are in a folder, most likely DCIM/Camera. Gallery is Samsung's photo viewing app, that lets you view your photos in that and other folders. Google Photos is Android's app that does the same thing. They are two apps with similar functions. I know little about Apple and iOS, but in Windows world, this would be like choosing between Photos, Windows Photo Viewer, and any number of other programs installed for photo handling. You can play with both and see what you like better. You can also open My Files (like Windows Explorer) and go into Images and tap on a photo, and it will ask you what app you'd like to use to open it. This does not mean you have duplicate files -- just different viewers.

As to the rest of your question, yes, there are many duplicate-function apps. Gallery ang Google Photos. Samsung Internet and Chrome (or I currently use Edge). There are multiple apps for playing music and videos as well. Many of these you will not be able to remove, since Google locks its down in Android and Samsung locks its into OneUI, the Samsung front end interface for Android.

Dan
Galaxy S22 SM-S901U on Xfinity Mobile

Original topic:

Why does my samsung s22 ultra save different things, like photos, in 2 different places?