Android 12 could finally fix a Google Photos backup issue on some phones

Google Photos is about to end its free unlimited backup option for your high quality pictures. Since you only have 15GB of free space as of June, you probably don’t want to fill it up with junk like screenshots. This is exactly what Android phones from Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo and Realme do. You save your screenshots in the DCIM folder of your phone’s internal storage. So when services like Google Photos, Dropbox or other backup pictures are saved on your phone, screenshots are also obtained. This could finally change with Android 12.

Ideally, the screenshots you have taken are located in the Screenshots subfolder of the Pictures folder on your phone. However, Samsung and the other OEMs mentioned above always save screenshots in the DCIM directory which is intended for the photos and videos you take.

According to XDA developer, Google could limit the ability to save screenshots in the DCIM folder on Android 12. A source told the publication that Google has proposed a revision of its CDD (Compatibility Definition Document). It defines the conditions that a device must meet in order to be delivered with Google Apps. The changes, which are not yet set in stone, provide that screenshots and screen recordings are not allowed to be saved in DCIM, pictures, videos or a custom directory. Instead, they must be in the dedicated Screenshots folder.

When the revision goes into effect, screenshot backups in Google Photos will become more predictable and users will have more control over whether they can delete them all from one place rather than looking for screenshots that need to be deleted in the DCIM folder before pictures secured. However, it is not certain that Google will enforce these proposed changes in the final version of Android 12. The company could very well drop the requirements, as it did for virtual A / B partitions on Android 11.

Also read: All of the features confirmed and rumored by Android 12 that you need to know