Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
A few weeks ago, my colleague Rita El Khoury wrote that Google One was losing its appeal, but she was stuck with the service mainly because of Google Photos. We also asked our readers and YouTube subscribers what they thought of Google One. The results raise growing dissatisfaction among those currently subscribing to Google One plans.
Our website and YouTube polls collected more than 14,000 votes combined, and while many people said they plan to keep their Google One subscriptions, their reasons for sticking around come from coercion, familiarity, and a lack of better Google Photos alternatives than anything.
The general sentiment of current subscribers is one that should worry Google.
“It is more expensive than other options available. But Google Drive’s forward and backward sync capabilities are unparalleled, at least in Android. So until the day comes when Microsoft or someone else comes up with comparable sync and storage options at a lower price, I can’t switch. I’m stuck,” said one YouTube user who voted in our survey
At the same time, a large number of Google One subscribers are wondering whether they should continue paying for their subscriptions or switch to other cloud storage services. Of course, there are people who never subscribed to Google One and a small group of users who subscribed and moved to other options. However, the overall sentiment of current subscribers is something that should concern Google.
“Google One scammed me by offering me a trial of their AI plan and apparently converted my 2TB plan to a 2TB AI plan. When I decided I wanted to go back to my regular subscription, they shifted four months and said my new renewal would be August instead of December. This is a kind of ‘last straw’ at Google. I bought a OneDrive subscription (which is actually cheaper and gives each family user their own 1TB bucket and includes MS Office) and am heading there. The tricky problem is – of course – photos. I use Google Takeout to collect all my photos, but I’m still figuring out the best way to categorize everything in OneDrive Pictures,” said one Android Authority reader.
“I’m just going to get a NAS on my own network and probably back up all my photos to that. I currently have a 2TB family plan and the only reason I bought it was for photo storage. I have a Pixel and use the VPN, but I can live without it. I wish there was a newcomer to the phone game, but we’re stuck with Google or Apple services,” said another.
Looks like Google has its work cut out for it.
“I ditched Photos as soon as Google pulled the ‘free’ rug out from under us because there was something on the wall. Thanks to Google’s draconian handling of YouTube and advertising, I will not invest in their products or services in the future,” said a reader who has completely switched from Google One.
Meanwhile, many Google One users would like new additions to the service to make it more lucrative for them.
“I continue to hope that we will get the Nest Aware and Fitbit subscriptions, just like in Great Britain. That would save me some money and help me stay in the ecosystem,” said one user.
“I use cloud storage and YouTube Premium. I wish Google would merge these two plans into one. But that will probably never happen,” said one of our YouTube subscribers. Another reader echoed this request, saying, “I hate paying for One and YouTube Premium. Give me a combination deal.”
Looks like Google has its work cut out for it. The company recently announced that it is scrapping Google One VPN to make way for better features in Google One plans. We hope the company listens to some of this user feedback and takes the necessary steps to make Google One more attractive over time.