I take a lot of photos with my smartphone but don’t back them up. What are some options that don’t include having to connect the phone to a computer with a USB cable?
Phones running the Android, iOS or Windows Phone operating systems typically have backup options and apps designed specifically to work with their corresponding cloud services, Google, Apple and Microsoft. If your phone is on a monthly plan with data limits, check that the automatic backup option you choose kicks in only when you are connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Backup options are plentiful. Among them, Android and iPhone phone users can automatically back up photos to a private album within their Google+ accounts. The free Google Drive app can be used to manually mark pictures for online backup; instructions for Android owners are online, as are steps for iPhone and iPad users.
For those with both an iPhone and an iCloud account from Apple, the Photo Stream feature can automatically upload copies of photos from the phone to the Web, computer and other devices. Windows Phone owners can automatically back up their pictures to Microsoft’s free SkyDrive service, as the Windows Phone Blog explains.
Other services that work on multiple platforms include the Camera Upload feature from the Dropbox online storage service and SugarSync’s mobile wireless backup apps and services. Smartphones have plenty of other backup options, like DoubleTwist AirSync for Android in the Google Play store. Read a program’s reviews to make sure it is worth your time.