Google Drive is an obvious storage solution for many Android users. However, the latest change to Google Drive storage limits is being described as a “cloud storage trap” by frustrated customers, on top of the other issues Google Drive has, and now storage seekers may be wondering what the best alternative to switch to is.
Google Drive now comes with a catch
And you may not have noticed
Credit: Adam Davison/How-To Geek
Google very quietly changed its wording surrounding the free storage included for Google account holders back in March, which mostly went unnoticed until a Reddit user spotted the change when creating a new Gmail account.
Up until this year, we Google users were given 15GB of free storage space without any ifs, ands, or buts. That’s now changed. This Reddit user noted that the new storage allowance is 5GB — and if you want the other 10GB you’d previously been entitled to, you have to input your mobile number.
Google claims the need for a mobile phone number is a form of “identity verification”, but commenters on this Reddit post have described it as a form of “bribery for your data”.
Given we live in the day and age where user data is coveted by companies and user privacy seems to have fallen by the wayside for major corporations, many Google users are drawing the line at handing over a phone number (a piece of personal information you can’t lie about, unlike a home address or name).
Google Drive comes at a higher price
Seriously…the price tag keeps getting bigger and bigger
Potentially one of the biggest issues, which isn’t exclusive to Google but is a huge problem for users, is the growing cost. Google users noted that the price rise in 2026 could be the final straw, as price increases are becoming normal.
Back in 2020, the Business Standard package cost roughly $14.40/user/month (when paid on a flexible plan), which increased to about $16.80/user/month in 2025, according to Incentro.
Though this only looks like a couple of bucks on paper, the extra $2.40 per month sure adds up. Plus, some users are questioning what the pay increase is actually paying for — and the answer is, of course, AI (as well as a few other Google updates).
Is your Google Drive safe and private?
Safe? Very. Private? Not so much
Credit: Lucas Gouveia / How-To Geek
Back in 2019, Google announced the Privacy Sandbox in an attempt to appease Google and Android users’ concerns about third-party cookies. After years of delays and backtracking, Google officially gave up on that dream back in 2025. And since then, users have still been raising questions about safety and privacy across Google Workspace.
How does Google use your data, you may ask? Essentially, they track your every move on Google apps and sites to tailor the ads you see — to an invasive degree. Obviously, some people find personalized ads useful, but they can be creepy too.
Google tracks your location, assimilates information from your Gmail and Google Drive files, and doesn’t use end-to-end encryption, much like OneDrive, to protect your documents from being snooped on, which is why users are beginning to make the switch.
There are plenty of things you can do to ensure your privacy while using Google, including locally encrypting your documents before putting them into your Drive to stop Google collecting data from them, but these are extra steps a lot of casual users or business owners aren’t going to want to do before using cloud storage.
What should you use instead of Google?
If you’re considering making the move from Google, whether because of the growing privacy concerns, rising prices or the new storage rules, there are plenty of alternative workspaces available. There’s Proton, iWork if you’re an Apple user, LibreOffice if you don’t mind something a bit more retro (and offline), Zoho Workspace, Lark and (of course) Microsoft 365 — if you’re happy to sacrifice end-to-end encryption for the primary competitor of Google Workspace.
It’s been several months since Samsung launched its Galaxy S26 series of phones, so now that the dust has settled, I’m reevaluating them against the industry’s best. That starts with the flagship Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Between it and the best iPhone available, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, you might be wondering which one is the better investment. The easy answer is, “Stick with whichever OS you have now,” but in all honesty, both phones are good enough to justify a switch. If you’re going to go, go big! It doesn’t get much bigger than these two powerhouses, so let’s dive in and see which one is the winner.
As it happens, I carry the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and also the latest Android phone, and it doesn’t get much more “latest” than the S26 Ultra, so these opinions are based on prior experience with the S25 Ultra, a good amount of hands-on review time with the S26 Ultra, and the specs we have on hand.
You should buy the iPhone 17 Pro Max if…
Jason Hiner/ZDNET
1. You (or your family) are in the Apple ecosystem
Platform lock-in is a thing, and Apple has it better than most. Apple provides an entire ecosystem of devices and cross-device functionality that most other OEMs can’t match. It’s not that Samsung doesn’t have an ecosystem of its own, but Apple’s devices are designed from the ground up to work together. They’re on a level of detail that other ecosystems — including Samsung’s — can’t really compete with.
Then, there’s the 800-pound gorilla in the room. If your family is also in the Apple ecosystem, there’s even more reason to stay there. One of the reasons I carry an iPhone everywhere is that my kids also have iPhones. “Dad, can you ring my phone?” is a common refrain in my house. Add iMessage and parental controls to that, and there are enough roadblocks to make not carrying an iPhone a pretty big headache.
There are software workarounds for just about everything an iPhone can do with other devices, but they’re just that — workarounds. If you want to be embedded in the Apple ecosystem, there is only one phone category you can carry.
2. You want a phone that just works
It’s a cliché, but it exists for a reason. Apple has a long history of being late to the party with a lot of features, but typically, when they get the feature, it’s very polished. Apple doesn’t take half-steps, and it rarely (though not never) treats its users like beta testers. It will take in the landscape, identify a feature that people like, and make it significantly better than the competition.
That philosophy extends to apps built for the platform as well. Apple maintains high standards for its App Store and approval process. I routinely encounter the same app on both platforms: it works flawlessly the first time on an iPhone but struggles on an Android phone. There’s a lot that goes into app development, especially on a platform like Android that can have multiple versions and flavors, so there’s no shade. Apple just delivers a better and more consistent experience.
3. You’re a video shooter
There are multiple reasons why the iPhone 17 Pro Max is the phone to use for video. First and foremost, it is storage. Put simply, the iPhone can get up to 2TB of onboard storage; the S26 Ultra maxes out at 1TB. A terabyte of storage seems like a lot — and it is, but if you’re shooting a ton of 8K or even 4K video, that’s going to chew up your storage in a hurry. This is also a solid argument if you’re a hardcore gamer, as they take up a lot of space these days.
The iPhone also offers a really great video experience. From shooting in dedicated ProRes Raw mode to open gate shooting, if you’re a filmmaker, you want options, and the iPhone gives you a ton. There are also numerous apps in the App Store that you can use to capture, enhance, and edit your videos.
Sure, there are apps in the Play Store for Android, but this combination of tools built for filmmakers makes the iPhone 17 Pro Max the phone to get for video enthusiasts.
You should buy the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra if…
Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET
1. You want the raw power
As recently as two years ago, this heading would have belonged under the iPhone category. But after Qualcomm rolled out the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor for the Galaxy, things changed. Of course, we’re talking about raw numbers here — user experience and vertical integration go a long way on Apple’s side, but Qualcomm’s processors have started to outperform Apple’s on benchmarking apps, and that’s a big deal.
Processing power is important in the realm of video processing/editing, gaming, and AI. If those are important categories for you, Samsung is the best game in town. The iPhone is a powerful machine, make no mistake, but the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is currently the most powerful phone you can buy at the moment.
2. You’re all-in on AI
Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET
Unfortunately, Apple Intelligence has seen a few false starts now. Meanwhile, Samsung and Google keep rolling out AI-powered features one after another. This generation of Samsung phones is no exception, with Galaxy AI taking most of the headlines from this lineup of S26 smartphones. From editing images to the new Now Nudge feature, AI is all over this software release.
One particularly intriguing new feature is Gemini’s ability to summon an Uber with a command. Just tell Gemini where you want to go, and it’ll launch Uber, input the destination, and once you confirm, it’ll summon the car. This is the first of potentially numerous apps and services that can be further automated with AI.
3. You value your privacy
Apple has always prided itself as a privacy-first company, and that’s fair enough. But Samsung is upping the ante with Privacy Screen, a hardware/software combination that could potentially change how people think about their phones and privacy. Samsung redesigned its screen to feature wide and narrow-angle pixels that the company can, through software, turn off individually to obscure the screen.
It doesn’t just block looky-loos in the airplane seat next to you from reading your texts, but because it’s software-driven, you can selectively block specific elements on your screen. So your whole screen is bright and beautiful, but a notification rolls in and only blocks the area where it appears.
Writer’s choice
Both of these phones are downright fantastic — there’s no question. But at the end of the day, if I had to pick, I’d go with the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. I have a dual-wielding phone lifestyle, but while I value the iPhone 17 Pro Max for its consistency and its comfort, Samsung and Android in general have a wider variety of fun form factors to play with, and that includes a multitude of accessories that you can buy into.
Apple works great within its ecosystem, and it’s just OK with everyone else. Android works very well with just about everything from Windows PCs to a wide variety of smartwatches and Bluetooth accessories. For everything an iPhone can connect to, an Android phone can connect to more. Plus, I didn’t even talk about the stylus here, because while I’m not a huge stylus person, I’m definitely a believer in the “it’s better to have it and not need it” philosophy.
Of course, as I mentioned before, I carry both. But I’m ultimately on Team Android, where I feel there’s more freedom.
Specifications
iPhone 17 Pro Max
Samsung Galaxy S26
Display
6.9 AMOLED with 120Hz, 3000 nits peak
6.9″ QHD AMOLED 120Hz, TBD nits peak
Weight
233g
214g
Processor
Apple A19 Pro
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy
Storage
256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB
256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Battery
5,088mAh, 25W wired charging and 25W wireless charging
5,000mAh, 60W wired charging and 25W wireless charging
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
