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Google could soon introduce a 'Google One Lite' plan (APK teardown)

Clues were spotted inside the Google Photos app, indicating that the upcoming tier could focus on Google Photos features.
By

Published onJuly 24, 2024

Google One logo on smartphone next to other devices Stock photo 2
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
  • We’ve spotted code references to a new “Google One Lite” plan.
  • These references were spotted within the Google Photos app, indicating that the new tier could include some Google Photos features and benefits.
  • Google has not yet announced anything related to “Google One Lite.”

If you have an Android flagship phone, you may have heard of Google One already. Google One is Google’s cloud storage solution that gives you more storage across Google services like Google Photos, Google Drive, Gmail, and more. Google One plans start at $1.99/mo for the Basic tier, but Google could soon introduce another tier in the form of “Google One Lite.”

An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.

We spotted a “Google One Lite” reference in the latest v6.92 update to the Google Photos app.

Code
<string name="photos_cloudstorage_g1_lite_plan">Google One Lite plan</string>

The string does not give away a whole lot about the plan, but we have spotted another reference within the app that suggests that the Lite plan co-exists alongside Google One’s existing Basic, Standard, Premium, and AI Premium plans.

Google Photos Google One Lite plan
AssembleDebug / Android Authority

Beyond these, the app does not present any other clues about Google One Lite. Since references to this upcoming plan were spotted within the Google Photos app, there is a good chance that it could include some Google Photos benefits.

Google currently offers the Basic, Standard, Premium, and AI Premium plans, with the following benefits:

Google One plansBasicStandardPremiumAI Premium
Google One plans
Monthly pricing
Basic
$1.99
Standard
$2.99
Premium
$9.99
AI Premium
$19.99
Google One plans
Annual pricing
Basic
$19.99
Standard
$29.99
Premium
$99.99
AI Premium
-
Google One plans
Cloud storage
Basic
100GB
Standard
200GB
Premium
2TB
AI Premium
2TB
Google One plans
Cloud storage family sharing
Basic
With up to five people
Standard
With up to five people
Premium
With up to five people
AI Premium
With up to five people
Google One plans
Google Photos editing features
Basic
Available
Standard
Available
Premium
Available
AI Premium
Available
Google One plans
Magic Editor saves in Google Photos
Basic
10
Standard
10
Premium
Unlimited
AI Premium
Unlimited
Google One plans
Google Store rewards
Basic
-
Standard
3% back
Premium
10% back
AI Premium
10% back
Google One plans
Google Meet premium video calling features
Basic
-
Standard
-
Premium
* Longer video calling
* Noise cancellation
* Call recording
AI Premium
* Longer video calling
* Noise cancellation
* Call recording
Google One plans
Google Calendar enhanced appointment scheduling
Basic
-
Standard
-
Premium
* Multiple appointment types
* Automatic email reminders
* Calendar syncing
AI Premium
* Multiple appointment types
* Automatic email reminders
* Calendar syncing
Google One plans
Gemini Advanced
Basic
-
Standard
-
Premium
-
AI Premium
Gemini 1.5 Pro model
Google One plans
Gemini in Gmail, Docs, and more
Basic
-
Standard
-
Premium
-
AI Premium
* Help you write in Gmail and Docs
* Create original images in Slides
* Enhance video quality in Meet

We’re not sure where a “Lite” plan would fit in the above structure, but the terminology is often used to denote a tier lower than the default, meaning something even cheaper than Basic. With that presumption, a Google One Lite plan would offer even fewer benefits than the Basic plan, perhaps offering users just some marginal cloud storage upgrade and limiting the number of family members the plan can be shared with.

Are you a Google One subscriber?

6145 votes

However, another theory is that Google could rejig Google One’s pricing structure and benefits. If the company plans to increase prices or introduce another key feature to Google One, it could do so with the Basic plan onwards and offer this upcoming Google One Lite plan at the same price and benefit tier as the Basic plan. As a speculative example, the Lite plan could start at $1.99/mo, while the Basic could rise to $2.99/mo and come with some new benefits.

There’s also the speculative possibility that Google could include a Google One Lite plan with some of its upcoming smartphones. This would allow the company to offer some limited benefits alongside the purchase of compatible hardware. These benefits could be time-limited or in perpetuity. This would make sense if the combination of benefits that Google wants to offer is different from what is available in the existing tiers. As a speculative example, maybe Google One Lite gives access to some new Google Photos features and 50GB of cloud storage with partner-sharing when you purchase the upcoming Pixel 9, intending to upsell users onto more expensive plans after giving them a taste of the benefits.

To be clear, all these theories are speculative, and Google could adopt any or none of them. The company has not yet confirmed the existence of a “Google One Lite” plan.

We’ve contacted Google to learn more about the Google One Lite plan. We’ll update this article when the company responds.

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