Google has announced an expansion of the Google One cloud storage platform to enable iOS and Android device owners to automatically back up their phone data.

The new initiative will be available even if the user doesn’t have a paid Google One subscription, and will be deducted from the free 15GB of cloud storage that comes with every Google account.

For iPhone users specifically, Google is launching a new Google One app that’ll facilitate the back up of photos, videos, contacts, and calendar events with Google.

This will give iPhone users an alternative to the paltry 5GB of storage they get free through iCloud and will enable more data to be backed up without paying for a cloud subscription. However, the range of data backed up from native iPhone apps won’t be as great.

15GB isn’t that much, and may not be enough for users seeking to back up reams of stuff from their phones, but for those with less than 15GB of stuff on their handsets this might be ideal. Additional storage is available from a couple of quid a month, so if you find yourself going over it’s not the end of the world.

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For those with loads of photos on their phone, there’s also the option of Google Photos, which will back up all of your photos and videos for free, provided you agree to a resolution cap.

Previously, the automatic Google One backups had only been available on Android devices for those with a paid Google One subscription, so this is a decent expansion of the Google One service and it’s available everywhere.

In a blog post Google writes: “Start backing up your phone with the Google One app, and save the stuff you care about using the free 15 GB of storage that comes with your Google Account. If you break, lose, or upgrade your phone, you can rest easy knowing that your data is safe in the cloud.”

Chris Smith

Chris Smith is a freelance technology journalist for a host of UK tech publications, including Trusted Reviews. He's based in South Florida, USA. …