Google reportedly mulling new One plan

A "Google One Lite" plan could debut next month alongside the Pixel 9 phone series (Image source: Google)

A Google Photos app teardown has revealed that the search giant may be considering launching a new Google One plan offering most of the usual perks at a lower price point. To get there, the company may have to remove the family sharing option and reduce the amount of storage available to the customer.

Ashish Singh, Published 07/25/2024 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 ...

Google One is a subscription-based service that offers benefits not available to free Google account users, such as a storage quota bump for Google Photos, Drive and Gmail, device backups and family sharing. At present, four One tiers are available in the States: Basic, Standard, Premium and AI Premium. While the existing plans cater to a wide enough range of users, an Android Authority writer has been playing around with a Google Photos APK file and managed to uncover hints that Google is working on a new budget-friendly plan, set to be called Google One Lite.

6.92 is the version of the Photos app that Android Authority has put under the microscope, for reference. Since this is an unofficial piece of information, specifics on the plan's features, pricing and availability remain unclear.

The current entry-level One plan offers 100GB of shared cloud storage for up to five family members alongside additional perks such as Google Photos editing tools, including the Magic Eraser. Priced at $1.99 monthly or $19.99 annually in the US, this tier serves as the basic option for users seeking expanded cloud storage and some Google ecosystem benefits. The Lite plan may end up being the new entry-level option.

As a tradeoff, the 100GB of storage as well as the family sharing options are very likely to get a trim whereas Google Photos features are set to be unharmed. Either way, it’s best to approach this rumor with caution until Google confirms or denies it.

If the company is indeed working on a new One plan, then it's safe to expect an official announcement with full details to happen in August alongside the release of the much-anticipated Pixel 9 series phones.