Texas Living

Keep Your Memories Safe with a Photo Backup

By Brian Kendall 2.20.17

It’s a terrible feeling — dropping your phone in water or destroying its screen not only ruins your expensive device but, and perhaps more importantly, all of the photos on it. All those precious pics from your epic Big Bend trip, that vacation to Corpus Christi, or your daughter’s dance recital disappear in an instant. While you might try to rescue these memories by enveloping your phone in a bowl of uncooked rice or trying to salvage the phone’s hard drive, attempts to retrieve the lost photos are more often than not futile.

And, though you can make attempts to keep such accidents from happening — shock-proof cases, waterproof devices, etc. — nothing is guaranteed. Your best bet is to make sure all of your photos are backed up. Here are some useful tips to ensure your memories aren’t lost at sea.

Use the Cloud

Want a hassle-free way to retrieve your photos? Cloud services give you a chance to recover your photos without ever having to lift a finger — except for the finger you have to lift to download the app, that is. Syncing your photos with platforms like iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox can give you the option to immediately save photos to the cloud as soon as you hit the shutter button. Just make sure after downloading the app that you turn on the feature to automatically save photos to the drive.

Try Amazon Prime Photos

Are you getting everything you can out of your Amazon Prime account? While you might be digging free shipping, book downloads, and video streaming, one of its oft overlooked perks is that it offers unlimited photo storage on Amazon Drive. That’s right, unlimited photo storage! This means you never have to worry about having a safe place to keep your beloved pics, as Amazon provides that wonderful vault for you. You can also share this benefit with up to five friends or family members, so they too can have a safe place to keep every photo they’ve ever taken.

You can visit Amazon to learn how you can obtain a Prime membership, which costs $99 per year or $10.99 per month.

Upload Them to Your Drive

Probably the least flashy way to back up your photos (no pun intended) is to simply upload them to your computer. Now before you reach for a lightning or USB cable, check your local computer or office supply store for a direct-to-device drive. These handy assistants feature a lightning connection (for iPhone) or a mini-USB (for Android) and plug right into your device for download (usually with the assistance of an app, but that will vary from product to product) — no computer needed.

Don’t risk losing your pics to a fateful encounter with a pool, sticky-fingered thief, or a trip to the drop zone — back them up to ensure your photos will live safely within the confines of your cloud, drive, or computer.

Looking for a place to capture memories with your friends and family? Remember that being a Texas Farm Bureau member allows you to take advantage of special travel offers from the likes of Six Flags, Schlitterbahn, and other entertainment and adventure parks across the Lone Star State. 

It’s also important that you remember to keep all your devices protected from potential hackers. Check out our guide for securing your digital devices.