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This great alternative to Google Photos is free on the Play Store right now
- Simple Gallery Pro is an alternative to Google Photos that focuses on being a great offline media viewer.
- The app is available on the Google Play Store for free for a limited time.
- The app is open-source and also distributed for free through F-Droid, even after the Play Store promotion ends.
I love Google Photos. It has many great features like automatic backups, easy sharing, a potent search tool, and nifty editing tools like Magic Eraser. But despite all of these, Google Photos misses the mark on being a good offline photo viewing tool. At times, you only need to view the photos on your phone; for that, we recommend apps like Simple Gallery Pro. If you want to try out a no-fuss photo gallery app on your phone, try Simple Gallery Pro, now free on the Google Play Store for a limited time.
My colleague Hadlee aptly describes Google Photos as “more of a cloud storage and photo editing platform” than a straightforward gallery app. If you want to view images that are present on your phone and nothing more, you need to tap one too many buttons to get there.
This is where apps like Simple Gallery Pro come in. It has been my gallery app of choice ever since Cheetah Mobile acquired Quickpic.
As the name suggests, Simple Gallery Pro focuses on being a simple gallery app. The focus is on presenting your locally stored photos and videos front and center, making for easier browsing and folder management.
The Simple Gallery Pro app supports all the popular image and video formats. It includes a few advanced features, such as a photo editor, a recycle bin for recovering accidentally deleted media, and an app lock. There are also many customization options available to change the app’s look.
The cherry on the cake with this app is that it does not need internet permissions to function and is entirely ad-free and open-source. In fact, Simple Gallery Pro has been available for free on F-Droid for a while now. The app costs about $1.59 on the Google Play Store, but it is now being distributed for free, making it easier to stay on the updated version. So if you’re interested in a no-fuss offline gallery app, try Simple Gallery Pro.
Other apps from the same developer are also free for a limited time. These include Simple File Manager Pro, Simple Calendar Pro, and Simple Draw Pro.