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    Home Unlabelled Android Google Photos ends unlimited storage - I made a Python script that helps you export all photos into one big chronological folder

    Android Google Photos ends unlimited storage - I made a Python script that helps you export all photos into one big chronological folder

    November 27, 2020

    Android Google Photos ends unlimited storage - I made a Python script that helps you export all photos into one big chronological folder

    Google Photos ends unlimited storage - I made a Python script that helps you export all photos into one big chronological folder

    Posted: 26 Nov 2020 07:13 AM PST

    Parliament wants to grant EU consumers a “right to repair” | News | European Parliament

    Posted: 27 Nov 2020 02:59 AM PST

    Are high-speed/high-capacity (A1, A2, U3) microSD cards worth it for Android? With Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals coming up, I (re)tested 5 of those and 2 older ones in 3 quite different Android phones

    Posted: 26 Nov 2020 01:42 PM PST

    After recently acquiring a 1TB microSD card in a pre-Black Friday deal, I decided to re-test my collection of larger/faster microSD cards. I have done Androbench memory benchmark posts before in 2019 and 2018 using my LG V20. This time I was curious how much the Android phone's card reader and other hardware inside the phone affects the performance. So I tested them in phones that I have available to me:

    • The 2020 Poco X3 NFC with the Snapdragon 732G (64GB model) - more in /r/PocoPhones/
    • The 2019 LG G8X with Snapdragon 855 (EU dualsim model) - /r/LGG8X
    • The 2016 LG V20 with Snapdragon 820 (the 2 fastest H990DS units I own) - more in /r/lgv20/

    I already knew from those earlier tests that even the fastest microSD cards are notably slower than almost any phone's internal storage. However, for a lot of uses it can be good to store to and read from a microSD: Because it is expandable storage (keeping precious space free on the internal memory), but also because it is removable and thus replaceable. It is a way to preserve the non-removable internal storage from unnecessary shenanigans causing wear. So using a microSD can help to keep an Android phone speedier (more space free on the internal storage means better performance) and make it last longer, so more endurance (less wear of the internal storage).

    Testing took longer than I had anticipated, because I did some discoveries that made me run more follow-up tests to figure out what was going on.

    TL;DR / Most relevant findings

    • Performance results of the most expensive A2 cards (like the Sandisk A2 Extreme PRO 1TB and Sandisk A2 Extreme 400GB) are not blowing away the usually less expensive Sandisk A1 cards and the Samsung U3 512GB card. (However it can still be a good idea to pick up a higher rated card if the price difference is temporarily small during special offers, especially if you plan to later re-use a high performance card in a DSLR or drone)
    • I see some notable performance differences within the same product line. E.g. significantly lower Sequential Write speeds on a brand new Sandisk A1 Ultra 64GB vs an older Sandisk A1 Ultra 400GB one.
    • Between phones, clear trends can be seen with the same cards, especially when it comes to write speeds (sequential and random) - also check the gallery So this gives me the impression that results of certain cards in certain conditions (e.g. free space, age, formatted) can be extrapolated between phones, taking some margins into account.
    • Of the areas Androbench tests, Sequential Read speed (1st table, 1st graph in gallery) is the most consistent between phones and cards. It's the most flat graphic. The Poco has the most consistent sequential read speeds between cards.
    • I discovered that usage history and available space can have a significant impact on the results - this can be most clearly seen in graph 05 with the disappointing Sequential Write speeds in the Samsung EVO Select after using it in 3 devices. Performance was much better in May 2019 and most of it returned after freshly formatting before my latest tests. Take graph 05 and 06 / table 5 and 6 below into account when looking at the Samsung EVO Select 512GB and the Sandisk A2 Extreme 400GB. I did not have time to redo all my tests in all phones after I did that discovery.
    • The Poco X3 NFC which is recommended to be used with 256GB max only had no problems with running tests on the bigger capacity cards, including the 1TB Sandisk. Note that I have not daily driven it with any of the larger cards in my wife's Poco.

    All the nitty gritty details are available in this Google Docs Sheet. Below are listings of the most notable results. Graphics can be seen in an Imgur gallery.

    01 - Sequential Read (MB/s)

    Brand Internal Storage Sandisk Samsung Sandisk Sandisk Sandisk Sandisk Sandisk
    Speed branding A2 (Extreme PRO, Black/Gold) EVO Select (Green/White) A2 (Extreme, Gold/White) A1 (Ultra, Silver/White) Ultra (Silver/White) Ultra (Black/Red) A1 (Ultra, Silver/White)
    Capacity 1TB 512GB 400GB 400GB 256GB 200GB 64GB
    Poco X3 NFC 498 68 69 73 75 74 70 73
    LG G8X 725 61 76 62 62 51 71 69
    LG V20 (Oreo) 452 63 72 63 82 80 68 82
    LG V20 (Nougat) 464 69 62 77 84 49 53 84
    Average 66 69 70 75 66 67 76

    Sequential Read speeds - My takeaway: Relatively small range between cards: 66-76 MB/s

    02 - Sequential Write (MB/s)

    Brand Internal Storage Sandisk Samsung Sandisk Sandisk Sandisk Sandisk Sandisk
    Speed branding A2 (Extreme PRO, Black/Gold) EVO Select (Green/White) A2 (Extreme, Gold/White) A1 (Ultra, Silver/White) Ultra (Silver/White) Ultra (Black/Red) A1 (Ultra, Silver/White)
    Capacity 1TB 512GB 400GB 400GB 256GB 200GB 64GB
    Poco X3 NFC 162 47 14 40 37 10 15 16
    LG G8X 484 44 14 37 37 16 14 15
    LG V20 (Oreo) 140 44 13 37 53 19 15 17
    LG V20 (Nougat) 153 50 12 41 45 10 10 17
    Average 46 13 39 41 13 14 16

    Sequential Write speeds - My takeaway - Wide range: 13-46 MB/s - so expect big differences in performance, depending on which card you pick. Also read the end of this post about further testing after noticing the relatively low results of the Samsung EVO Select 512GB and the Sandisk A2 400GB.

    03 - Random Read (IOPS)

    Brand Internal Storage Sandisk Samsung Sandisk Sandisk Sandisk Sandisk Sandisk
    Speed branding A2 (Extreme PRO, Black/Gold) EVO Select (Green/White) A2 (Extreme, Gold/White) A1 (Ultra, Silver/White) Ultra (Silver/White) Ultra (Black/Red) A1 (Ultra, Silver/White)
    Capacity 1TB 512GB 400GB 400GB 256GB 200GB 64GB
    Poco X3 NFC 34361 2383 2844 2153 2827 2305 1369 2914
    LG G8X 34506 1868 3149 1177 2278 1437 1170 2991
    LG V20 (Oreo) 19284 2320 2976 1858 2819 2319 1308 2896
    LG V20 (Nougat) 22866 2422 2901 2054 2879 2261 1231 2955
    Average 2275 2943 1879 2726 2125 1290 2934

    Random Read speeds - My takeaway - Large range overall: (1290-2934 IOPS), but medium (2125-2934 IOPS) if one is looking only at the newer A1 and A2 cards. So the newer cards may be safer bet if you want high random read speeds.

    04 - Random Write (IOPS)

    Brand Internal Storage Sandisk Samsung Sandisk Sandisk Sandisk Sandisk Sandisk
    Speed branding A2 (Extreme PRO, Black/Gold) EVO Select (Green/White) A2 (Extreme, Gold/White) A1 (Ultra, Silver/White) Ultra (Silver/White) Ultra (Black/Red) A1 (Ultra, Silver/White)
    Capacity 1TB 512GB 400GB 400GB 256GB 200GB 64GB
    Poco X3 NFC 23351 724 508 485 611 470 148 456
    LG G8X 7848 541 544 430 626 360 140 484
    LG V20 (Oreo) 4691 737 524 617 647 449 161 483
    LG V20 (Nougat) 4657 735 557 582 640 399 144 482
    Average 692 528 520 627 430 148 472

    Random Write speeds - My takeaway - Medium range of results (472-692 IOPS) when just looking at the newer A1, A2 and Samsung cards. If you are using an older or no-brand microSD card, you may want to run Androbench on it to see if there is anything to gain.

    SQL tests: notably higher ratings on the 2 newer phones, especially the Poco

    Androbench also tests SQL Ins (QPS) SQL Upd (QPS) and SQL Del (QPS) during each full test. Detailed results for this can be found in the Google Docs Sheet. The Poco X3 is the clear winner in this area, where some of the microSD cards even beat the Poco's Internal Storage, something that I had not seen before. The G8X follows the Poco at a distance and the two V20s lag behind in this area. This makes me believe that SoC power and SoC optimizations for SQL performance are a factor in this area.

    Trying to solve the mystery of variation in write speeds on two of the cards that I tested in 2018 and 2019

    I had tested these cards already (in the V20 only):

    In the 2018 and 2019 overview benchmark posts, I had re-used results from earlier tests, not really considering that test results could change over time. So this has really been the first time I structurally reviewed all cards at the same time.

    During early November 7-9 (2020) testing (with quite low 7% and 12% free space respectively), I noticed much lower results, especially with the Sequential Write scores.

    After seeing that, I decided to free up some space (to 29% free) to check if this would give more similar results than what I had measured during the 2018/19 tests. I ran these tests on all four phones. The ones with 29% free is what you see in tables / graphs 01 through 04.

    Not seeing any real improvements, I decided to do focused testing only on the V20 (Oreo).

    My first step (17 November) was to format the cards in the V20 and run benchmarks with 100% free space.

    My next and final step (18 November) was re-filling both cards and doing benchmark rounds.

    05 - LG V20 (Oreo) with Samsung EVO Select (Green/White) 512 GB

    When May 2019 8 Nov 2020 13 Nov 2020 17 Nov 2020 18 Nov 2020
    State during testing After formatting and copying data from my Sandisk 400GB A2 card After using the card in two different phones and quite full with data After removing media data (using phone) - to bring more in line with free space on other cards After formatting - card in empty state After formatting and copying Android-style data onto the card (using PC)
    Space free during testing 32% 7% 29% 100% 29%
    Seq Rd (MB/s) 83 83 72 83 66
    Seq Wr (MB/S) 50 14 13 44 43
    Rnd Rd (IOPS) 3003 3054 2976 3016 2708
    Rnd Wr (IOPS) 639 565 561 637 619
    SQL Ins (QPS) 496 478 450 463 504
    SQL Upd (QPS) 666 694 651 623 667
    SQL Del (QPS) 724 722 692 704 721

    Performance variation Samsung 512GB - My takeaway - Sequential Write speeds suffered a lot after 18 months of using in 3 different devices. Formatting the card (Nov 17) recovered most of the Sew Wr performance and recovered the Rnd Wr speed. Even after re-filling the card Seq Wr and Rnd Wr stays good. Seq Rd performance seems to have dropped, based on available space. I wonder if I can reproduce that in future tests.

    06 - LG V20 (Oreo) with Sandisk A2 Extreme (Gold/White) 400GB

    When Nov 2018 8 Nov 2020 13 Nov 2020 17 Nov 2020 18 Nov 2020
    State during testing After formatting and copying data from my Sandisk 400GB A1 card After using the card in different devices and quite full with data After removing media data (using phone) - to bring more in line with free space on other cards After formatting - card in empty state After formatting and copying Android-style data onto the card (using PC)
    Space free during testing 25% 12% 29% 100% 26%
    Seq Rd (MB/s) 81 68 63 81 60
    Seq Wr (MB/S) 50 45 37 51 37
    Rnd Rd (IOPS) 2172 1919 1858 2102 1960
    Rnd Wr (IOPS) 633 612 617 670 589
    SQL Ins (QPS) 484 447 442 497 506
    SQL Upd (QPS) 655 543 585 690 618
    SQL Del (QPS) 718 602 620 676 697

    Performance variation Sandisk 2 400GB - My takeaway - This card was less intensively used than the Samsung. I did not use it so long in a daily driver device. Formatting the card did not really make a big change in Seq Wr and Rnd Wr performance. All Read and Write performances seem to go up and down more, based on available space.

    How I tested

    • All numbers shown in the tables here are an average of sets of 3 measurements, without cherry picking results - my raw test data can be found in the 5th through 8th tab in the Google Docs Sheet.
    • Room temperature - in the frisky 17-19 Celsius (62-66 F) range in my case
    • No case or skin - cases and skins can impact heat dissipation and thus SoC temperature and influence results
    • Airplane mode ON - poor cellular (indoors) and Wifi reception can keep the SoC and battery busy, which can blur the results
    • Localization (GPS) OFF - same reason as airplane mode
    • Anti-malware de-installed - I had ESET Mobile Security and BitDefender Security installed on several phones. I had them de-installed while running the tests.
    • Battery in the 40%-100% range - Below 40% battery, heat and performance effects can occur. Not something you want to blur results with.
    • No charging during benchmark runs - Charging = heat = potential performance impact
    • No USB-C devices connected during benchmark runs (although I use it for screenshots in between tests)
    • At least 28% free space on tested medium - Some early tests (as seen in table 05 and 06 and graph 05 and 06 I had less space free in 2 cards)
    • I did not format each card anew in each device in this test (something I normally would do when committing a microSD card to a specific device for a longer time). If you intend to use a card in an Android phone, I would recommend formatting it in the intended phone. But I did not do that during this test, as this would have taken too long, considering the amount of phone-card combinations and the frequent swapping of cards in between tests.

    Overview of my raw test data and analysis

    About the (Androbench) screenshots: You can make sure-fire screenshots from the AndroBench log using an external keyboard (USB using hub or OTG cable or bluetooth), provided the external keyboard has a PrtScr key.

    Note that AndroBench tends to reset very easily to the internal memory setting, e.g. if you connect or disconnect USB-C devices. So always check which you are measuring: internal or microSD.

    External Resources

    I found the following blog posts useful, e.g. the discussion of A1 vs A2 Performance Classes and the relativity of those in day-to-day usage:

    Related discussions in semi-crossposts

    For various reasons I posted the same core information in similar, but slightly different posts in the subs of the tested phones: Poco X3 NFC , LG G8X and LG V20 (rather than doing a classic crosspost)

    submitted by /u/JeromeZilcher
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    Vivo unveils Origin Os - Will it be less polarizing than the previous one?

    Posted: 26 Nov 2020 10:03 PM PST

    Redmi Note 9 5G series announced: 5G and 108MP Isocell HM2 starting at ~$250

    Posted: 26 Nov 2020 06:25 AM PST

    OnePlus 8T, Mi 10T Pro, and 13 others now support Google Play Services for AR

    Posted: 26 Nov 2020 08:09 AM PST

    Samsung's new 'Secure Wi-Fi' button automatically enables location services - Remember to turn that off!

    Posted: 26 Nov 2020 08:13 AM PST

    Find the new button under:

    • Swipe down for taskbar
    • Expand to show all button
    • Click the settings tab (3 dots)
    • Click Button order

    There you will find secure Wi-fi button which you can hold to get to the settings.

    Alternatively, find it under settings and searching for Secure Wi-fi

    I hope I'm not being a noob and this was around for years.

    Device: Samsung Galaxy S10

    submitted by /u/PsychedelicAwakening
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    Samsung trade in program is back again for Baltic countries (but not as good as before)

    Posted: 26 Nov 2020 10:48 PM PST

    What's your decision factor(s)?

    Posted: 26 Nov 2020 06:40 AM PST

    With the choice of phones at every price point now, do you still have a strong must have decision factor or factors(3.5 mm jack, NFC, AMOLED) without which you won't get a phone even in 2021? Thought it would be nice to know what you all think.

    submitted by /u/rojajimmy
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    I switched to the Fold 2 - here's what I've learned - YouTube - TechAltar

    Posted: 26 Nov 2020 03:41 AM PST

    Dark Mode Now Available for Flipboard Android Users

    Posted: 26 Nov 2020 09:50 AM PST

    After introducing dark mode for iOS users last year, Flipboard has rolled out that same option for Android devices.

    submitted by /u/One_First
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    Android App Bundles could have a drawback for developers, power users

    Posted: 26 Nov 2020 12:46 AM PST

    Nokia 2.4 hands-on - GSMArena

    Posted: 26 Nov 2020 07:01 AM PST

    S20 FE vs Mi 10T Pro vs iPhone 12 Pro Max Blind Camera Comparison

    Posted: 26 Nov 2020 03:27 AM PST

    How to retain Free Unlimited "High Quality" Google Photos Backup past June 2021.

    Posted: 26 Nov 2020 02:34 PM PST

    Warning - This requires rooting your device with Magisk (and hence an unlocked bootloader, probably voiding your device's warranty and a bit of research and technical know how as well)

    Side note (You may not read this paragraph) - So I was frustrated on Google's new policy about how they are removing Free Unlimited High Quality Backup from Non Pixel devices to strengthen their Pixel Lineup. Well beans be spilled I'mma great fan of Pixel's stock Android user experience but not of their high Price tag for such incompetent hardware. I bought a POCO F1 ($230 in a sale for 8/256gb variant Early 2019) and on its third day had installed a Custom AOSP ROM called Pixel Experience that basically turns my phone into a Pixel 3 XL for free. I really enjoy pixel features and was accustomed to Google Photos' Free Backup thing. Recently just after a month Pixel had their android 11, a stable custom Rom was developed for my device as well. The custom ROM running on A11 that I use now spoofs my device as a PIXEL 4 so that in Google Photos it shows that "BACKUP FROM PIXEL 4 IS FREE AND UNLIMITED". I was gladly delighted and on further research I found out how to do this for all devices that are rooted with Magisk and did the same to my older phones and my tablet. And today I'm gonna share them with you. :)

    Step 1) Unlock Your Bootloader (probably install a custom Recovery) and Root your Device with Magisk.(Google "How to Root" + your device name)

    Step 2) If you want to use banking apps, (i) enable MagiskHide in Magisk Manager's Setting and (ii) rename Magisk Manager to something else in the same settings Page (I renamed it to Magic for easier access). These steps allow device to pass basic SafetyNet. Check if SafetyNet is passed in Magisk Manager by clicking check SafetyNet on homepage.

    Step 3) Download Pixel 4 XL props enabler from any of the following

    https://github.com/ayush5harma/P4XLProps/releases

    https://t.me/PixelProps Don't open this in default Mobile Reddit Browser

    Make sure to choose one that relates with your Android Version.

    Step 4) Reboot and Clear Google Photos' Data. In some scenerios, you might need to format your device as well.

    Step 5) Check of Google Photos show Unlimited Backup in High Quality is Available or Not.

    😉✌️ http://imgur.com/gallery/azgl6de

    submitted by /u/mayanksh3khar
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