Google+ Photos is shutting down on August 1

Google+ Photos is shutting down on August 1

Earlier this year, big changes were announced to Google+, as the search giant broke the platform down into smaller components, including Photos, Streams and Hangouts. Following up on that announcement, the company launched a new Google Photos app in May, and it's now ready to retire its predecessor.

The older Google+ Photos app will begin shutting down on August 1 - first on Android, before web access and the iOS app are killed off later. Users of the old app on Android should soon see a prompt encouraging them to download the new Google Photos app instead. As Google explains:

Don’t worry, all your photos and videos will still be saved and available after you switch to the new, stand-alone Google Photos app. With the new app you’ll still be able to backup, edit, and share your photos and videos, with unlimited storage, automatic organization, and more.

f you don't update to the new app, the company says that "Google+ Photos on Android will soon stop working, but your photos and videos will still remain safely stored and available via http://photos.google.com or for export using Google Takeout."

Download: Google Photos (Google Play)