San Francisco, Jun 1 (IANS): After offering unlimited free photo backups for years, Google Photos is now ending its free unlimited storage on June 1.

From then on, any photo users upload -- including compressed "storage saver" pics -- counts toward their Google Drive storage limit unless it comes from a Pixel phone, Engadget reported.

If users need more space, they will have to pay for Google One plans that start at $2 per month for 100GB of Drive space and scale to 2TB for $10 per month.

Any photos they upload before June 1 won't count toward the cap.

Google has also made it easier to delete unwanted photos through a tool that finds blurry snapshots, screenshots and other items users can usually remove, the report said.

The company explained the move last November as a necessary step to "keep pace" with the demand for storage, it added.

Those users still looking for a free service can use the no-cost tiers for services like Dropbox or Flickr if you have a modest collection.

Recently, Google rolled out a new feature that will help Gmail users transfer emailed photos from their accounts directly to Google Photos.

The new 'Save to Photos' button, currently available only for images in JPEG format, will arrive for personal Gmail users, Google Workspace, G Suite Basic and G Suite Business customers in the next couple of weeks.