Using Google Photos for Event Photo Sharing
Google Photos is excellent for personal libraries. Collecting photos from event guests is a different problem.
Google Photos is one of the most capable photo apps available and most people already have it. It's a reasonable first instinct for event photo sharing. But there's a real gap between sharing photos with people you know and collecting photos from 80 guests on different devices who may not have a Google account — and it's worth understanding where that gap is before you commit.
What Google Photos actually does well
Google Photos is genuinely excellent for personal photo storage, AI-powered search, and sharing photos with people in your contacts. If you want to share your own photos with a handful of family members who are already on Google, it's hard to beat. The interface is polished, storage is generous, and the organisation features are best-in-class.
The guest upload problem
The friction point for events is this: to upload photos to a shared Google Photos album, guests need a Google account. They can view an album via a shared link without one, but contributing requires signing in. For a mixed guest list — a wedding, a birthday, a corporate do — that's a real barrier. Not everyone has a Google account, and those who do may not want to use it for a stranger's wedding album.
In practice, a portion of your guests won't contribute even if they wanted to. At a typical UK wedding with a mixed age range, that's not a small edge case — it's a meaningful chunk of the room.
The QR code situation
Google Photos does support QR codes for shared albums, so that's not a differentiator. However, the QR code takes guests to the Google Photos interface, which requires signing in to upload. The flow is: scan QR code → Google Photos web view → sign in → navigate to album → upload. For guests without a Google account, it stops at step three.
Piccy's flow is: scan QR code → upload screen → upload. No sign-in, no account.
When Google Photos is the right choice
If your guest list is almost entirely Android users who are already signed into Google, a shared Google Photos album works well and costs nothing. It's also the right choice if you want the photos to live alongside your personal Google Photos library long-term, and you're comfortable with the sign-in requirement for uploaders.
For smaller gatherings with a tech-comfortable guest list, it's a perfectly reasonable option.
Where it falls down
Large mixed guest lists, older guests who aren't used to being prompted to sign in before doing something simple, and events with a lot of iPhone users who don't have Google Photos installed. The more guests you want photos from, the more the sign-in requirement costs you.
Google Photos: A personal photo library and backup service with genuinely excellent storage, search, and sharing features.
| Feature | Google Photos | Piccy |
|---|---|---|
| Guest upload without an account | No — guests need a Google account to upload | Yes — browser-based, no account required |
| QR code for sharing | Yes — available on Android app | Yes — generated automatically per event |
| Works on any phone browser | View yes, upload requires Google account | Yes — upload works in any mobile browser |
| Guest messages alongside photos | Comments on photos (Google account required) | Yes — guests can add a written message |
| Personal photo storage | Excellent — 15GB free, more with Google One | Event-specific only, not a personal library |
| AI photo search and face recognition | Excellent | Not available |
| Cost | Free up to 15GB, Google One plans from £1.59/month | Free tier available; paid plan per event |
| Purpose | Personal photo library with sharing features | Event photo collection specifically |
If you want long-term personal photo storage, or your guests are all in the Google ecosystem already, Google Photos works fine and costs nothing. If your main concern is how many guests actually bother uploading — especially at a bigger or more mixed event — the sign-in requirement will quietly reduce that number more than you'd expect.
Try the no-account approach
Create a free Piccy event and see how the guest upload flow compares. You can have a QR code ready in a few minutes.
Get Started FreeCommon questions
Can I use both Google Photos and Piccy for the same event?
Yes. Some couples use Piccy for collecting guest uploads on the day, then move everything into Google Photos afterwards for long-term storage. They serve different purposes.
Does Google Photos charge for shared albums?
Shared albums count against the storage quota of whoever created them. Google accounts come with 15GB free; beyond that, you need a Google One subscription.