Proton are planning to develop a Google Photos alternative
There's been no official announcement yet, but a forum post all but confirms it's in the works.
Proton, the company behind many of the best privacy and security services available, look to be expanding in a big way. As of today, it appears Proton are officially planning to release a photo backup solution akin to Google Photos sometime in the future.
Over on Proton's user forums, there's been a request open for a Google Photos alternative since August of last year. That submission has more than 1,500 upvotes and looks to have potentially gained some influence over at Proton HQ.
The official status of that forum submission was updated to "planned" earlier today. Which, if taken at its word, means Proton is officially planning to develop this in the foreseeable future.
There has been no official announcement on this thus far that I am aware of, but it's worth getting this potentially exciting news out there, even if it is early days.
Many people in the community bill Proton as a Google suite alternative, but it's still lacking a few counterparts to fill out the ecosystem. One of those missing components being some form of Proton Photos app or feature.
As of right now, Google Photos and iCloud could use more competition in this space. So far, I've written about ente Photos, which is my favorite Google Photos alternative. But other than that, most of the competition is either proprietary, lack-luster, or self-hosted.
There is nothing wrong with self-hosted alternatives, and honestly, they are more likely better for your privacy and security. But the average user won't trust themselves to host their own photo backup solution, especially given that they are irreplaceable if lost.
That means having hosted secure, private, and free software solutions are essential to maintain the average users' freedom and security. Let's hope this is what Proton has in store, and we will see a full-fledged Google Photos alternative soon.
