I do that as well (Android user, so it's pretty much the default), but aside from not having to pay Google, there isn't a meaningful difference here: it's just trading one company's propriety cloud backup for another's.
Google's data interoperability is quite good though (Takeout). That was something Google did right 10+ years ago and I'm glad it hasn't died on the vine (and will probably see more development now, what with all this antitrust in the air).
There’s a giant difference. The claim is that Apple restricts other companies from providing cloud backup of photos. Google Photos proves this is incorrect.
