Late last week, Google let fly an announcement that scared more than a few people: their PC and Mac desktop app for Google Drive is going the way of the Dodo bird. As the new alternative, customers will have two options. For those using the G Suite service, the solution is called Drive File Stream, an app that will allow for quicker, more streamlined access to their files and also the ability to choose which ones are made available offline. For non-G Suite users, another app called Backup and Sync will be the way to go. It will have all the same features as the Google Drive desktop app that most users currently access on a regular basis, but with an added photo capability as well.
Right now, it's important to clarify one glaring misconception, and that is that Google's Drive service is not going anywhere at all. In fact, for those who are normally accessing their Drive storage from their web browser, no changes will be necessary to your workflow. However, if you've implemented the PC or Mac desktop app into your routine, meaning you don't really access your files using a browser, then you're going to have the make the switch sooner rather than later. For both G Suite and regular users, Google is reportedly stopping support as of December 11th of this year for the Drive desktop app and will completely shut it down on March 12th, 2018. According to the British publication The Register, Drive users can expect to get a Windows 10-esque pop-up sometime in October, notifying them that they'll need to make a pre-March 12th switch of the program.
In general, this seems to be a move towards making Google more of a one-stop shop for your online cloud storage. The Backup and Sync app will allow users to store a large amount of photos, provided they're cool with the slight compression that will happen during the upload process. If not, they'll have to pay extra for more storage. After the debacle that was Google+, the company is hoping that, with this change, more customers will be housing all of their data in their infrastructure instead of with other providers.