Bad news, Amazon Prime members - one of your best perks is being taken away
Amazon Drive will close at the end of 2023
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Amazonhas revealed it is closing itscloud storageplatform in another consolidation push from the tech giant.
The company has emailedAmazon Drivecustomers to confirm that the service will be closing at the end of next year.
The move comes as part of Amazon’s push towards itsAmazon Photosservice, which will now become a central location for photo and video storage.
Amazon Drive closure
“Over the last 11 years, Amazon Drive has served as a secure cloud storage service for Amazon customers to back up their files,” the company’s email to customers read.
“On December 31, 2023, we will no longer support Amazon Drive to more fully focus our efforts on photos and video storage with Amazon Photos. We will continue to provide customers the ability to safely back up, share, and organize photos and videos with Amazon Photos.”
Users will need to download all their files by the closing date, but existing Amazon users will have had their photo and video files automatically saved to Amazon Photos.
The service will remain fully operational until December 31, 2023, but the company says that, from January 31, 2023, it will no longer support uploading files on the Amazon Drive website.
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It adds that the Amazon Photos app is available on iOS, Android and desktop users now - and existing Amazon Prime members get free, unlimited full-resolution photo storage and 5GB video storage. Non-Prime members get 5GB of free storage for photos and video.
New Amazon Photos members will be able to pick from a selection of monthly and annual storage plans. The service allows users to display photos on Amazon devices such as the Fire TV, Echo Show and its Fire Tablets, and its Family Vault service allows Amazon Prime members to invite up to five members to receive “unlimited photo storage, and collect photos together”.
Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK’s leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he’s not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.
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