Flickr for iPhone update brings a great new way to automatically backup your photos

Yahoo has updated the Flickr app for iOS to offer the ability to automatically upload photos to the popular photo-sharing site, even when the app is not in the foreground.

The option, added in the latest update to Flickr for iPhone, is disabled by default, but you can choose to have all your photos uploaded automatically using either Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi or Cellular. Photos are uploaded in full-resolution and set to private by default, which can of course be changed later to have them visible to the desired audience.

While other iOS apps like Dropbox and Google+ offer similar options that let you backup photos and videos, Flickr goes a step ahead in that the photos are seamlessly uploaded, without you needing to switch focus to the app. This makes the experience as seamless as the Photo Stream feature in iOS, which automatically backups up your photos and videos to Apple's iCloud. We tried the updated Flickr app and it works exactly as advertised.

Combine the new auto-upload option with the 1 terabyte of storage that Flickr now offers for free and the result is a great way to have all your photos backed up with zero effort on your part. That in itself is a great incentive for you to use Flickr, and the accompanying iPhone app, even if you have no interest in sharing your photos with anyone.

Yes, the battery life will take a bit of a hit, and you can incur charges if you leave the Wi-Fi or Cellular selected (we recommend the Wi-Fi only option, if you connect to a Wi-Fi network at least once a day), but that's a small price to pay for the peace of mind of having all your precious memories backed up.

The update also adds the ability to auto-straighten photos from within the app and fixes Google sign-in issues.

Flickr for iPhone is available as a free download from the App Store.