Bring in older photos from Google Photos

Photos from old phones and cameras can join your atlas with their dates and places: new countries, earlier trips, years before this iPhone. You download a copy from Google Takeout, save it to Files and add it to Ricordo. Your Google account is never connected.

Ask Google for a copy

1. In Ricordo, open Settings and tap Google Photos.

2. Tap Open Google Takeout. It opens with only Google Photos picked.

3. On the next page, choose Send download link via email, Export once, and file type .zip with size 50 GB (fewer parts).

4. Tap Create export.

Google emails you a link when your copy is ready: often within hours, a day or two for big libraries. Tap Remind me tomorrow if you'd like a nudge.

Save the zips

1. Open Google's email on your iPhone and tap Download for each part. Safari keeps them in Files, under Downloads. On a computer, save them to iCloud Drive instead.

2. Don't open or unzip them: Ricordo reads them as they are.

Add them to Ricordo

1. Go back to Settings → Google Photos and tap Choose the zips.

2. Select every part at once, if you can.

When it's done, Ricordo shows what was added: new countries, new trips and how far back your atlas now goes.

Good to know

• Keep the zips where you saved them. Ricordo reads the photos from them and never copies or uploads them.

• Photos already on your iPhone aren't added twice.

• Parts added later are matched up with the rest. If you see Some parts are still to come, tap Add the other parts.

• To take an export out again, tap Remove next to its zip, then Remove its photos from Ricordo. The zip stays in Files, and nothing changes in Google Photos.