Using Google Photos as the main gallery app in Samsung?

Do people use Google Photos as the main gallery app in Samsung? Does it work smoothly currently?

I'm thinking of switching to a Samsung phone. I have a lot of data in the Photos app that I wouldn't be able to download locally. I heard there can be some difficulty with Instagram etc trying to access photos that are not downloaded locally in the Samsung gallery. Has anyone tried?

I have been using a OnePlus phone and it's very smooth there: Instagram etc have an option to access photos directly from the Google Photos media picker.