Photostream Behavior Clarification Please...

Good question. Hopefully someone will answer.

Yeah, so does that mean that you must go to your PC and copy them out of your PhotoStream folder? Or can you leave them there and since they are older than 30 days iCloud will ignore them? Or does iCloud delete them from your PC too? In other words, will your PhotoStream folder on your pc always exactly mirror iCloud?

I was hoping that PhotoStream would be a way to automatically archive my pics until I had time to work on them. If they disappear after 30 days anyway I think I'll just opt our.

If you have to copy the photos you want to keep out of the photostream back to your mac/iphone/etc - then what's the point of having photostream??

It used to be I took pix on my iphone. They sat in my camera roll until I synced with iPhoto. then my camera roll was empty, and the pix I'd taken were in other albums.

I was hoping that this would let me skip that step- I take a pic, it goes to iphoto.

And it does... but only temporarily??

From the iCloud page-

If you want to touch up a photo or keep a favorite shot permanently, simply save it to your Camera Roll. iCloud stores new photos for 30 days, so you have plenty of time to connect your iOS device to Wi-Fi and make sure you always have your most recent shots handy.

so, then what? I copy it from photostream back to my camera roll... and then sync via cable with iphoto to get it out of the camera roll?

Huh??

ok, a follow up to that. I also just saw it says

Your computer automatically keeps all the photos that come through your Photo Stream.

Presumably that means if you do nothing, the pix in the photostream will expire after 30days (or 1000pix), and disappear from iDevices. But they'll ALL stay on your mac.

In the Photostream folder?

then do I copy things out of photostream and into albums? I guess photostream is just like one big buffer?

Hi Alexroet

From recent experience of using photostream, once you take a photo, and sync your ios devivce over wifi, the photo is uploaded into photostream and distributed to all your other devices (subject to a max of 1000 photos).

In iphoto on my macbookpro, every new photo that is added to the photostream folder over wifi copies itself into the main photo storage area, so presumeably is kept there for good, even though the photostream folder may change in the future, once the 1000 photo limit is reached.

I hope all that made sense!!

I have a very basic setup: One user with an iMac and two iDevices: iPad and iPhone, home wifi network, cellular data plan.

Have I got this summary right?

1. Photos are stored in Photo Stream on the iCloud server, and after syncing they are also present in the Photo Stream folders on my devices. Photo Stream on the iCloud server is a 30-day holding pen.
2. There are Photo Stream folders in Aperture (or iPhoto) on my iMac, and Photos on my iPad or iPhone.
3. When my other devices connect to a wifi network, photos I took on my iDevice download from iCloud to the Photo Stream folder on my other devices, and a copy remains in Camera Roll on the iDevice that took the picture. (I don't need to manually copy the photo from Photo Stream to Camera Roll on the iDevice that took the picture, right?)
4. Photos are stored on the iCloud server for 30 days to give me time to download them to my devices using a wifi network connection to iCloud.
5. iCloud bumps images out of Photo Stream on my iDevices at 1,000 photos (maybe only iDevices, not iMac?).
6. I cannot delete individual photos from Photo Stream in iCloud or my devices, only "reset" it, which deletes all photos in Photo Stream on the iCloud server, but not in Photo Stream on the iMac or iDevice. Delete photos there by turning off and on Photo Stream on the device., but only do that after moving copies to a safe place, if need be.
7. Photos I import to Aperture on my iMac from any source are automatically copied to the Stream unless I turn off the Stream in Aperture first SO CAUTION!!!!! Could lead to giant unintended uploads.
8. Photos I take on my iPad or iPhone are automatically copied to Photo Stream on iCloud unless I turn off Photo Stream on those devices first.
9. In Aperture, do the image masters remain in Photo Stream if I drag an image from Photo Stream to a project? Do both the image and a version end up in the project?

That all sound about right shineysky, that's the experience i've had so far.

Not sure about your Aperture question, but would assume that the photostream folder acts the same as it does in iPhoto, a copy is left in photostream folder as well a project copy.

I get that much. It gets copied into the photostream, but I guess that's just a temporary "holding pen". So if I (say) took a pic on my iphone... it's in my camera roll. Then it gets photostreamed to other devices. Now, if I don't want it to disappear after 30d, I have to copy it BACK from photostream? I know it stays on my mac, but what if I want it on my iphone too? It can't stay in the iphone photostream forever, so I have to copy it seomewhere else?

And that's where it seems awfully inefficient, but hopefully I have it wrong.

I can...

copy it from photostream on my mac into iPhoto.

Then delete it from the camera roll on my iphone.

then sync via cable with my mac, so it's PERMANENTLY the same on the imac and the phone?

That seems crazy.

I guess my real question is- what's the point of the camera roll, then? I used to use camera roll as the 'holding pen' where I kept pix until I synced with iPhoto. Now photostream does that. Sort of.

But still, the only way to REALLY get pix out of the camera roll (and not just into temporary photostream limbo) is (STILL) to sync via cable? So that hasn't changed?

Or to delete it from the camera roll, and save it in iphoto on the mac?

i think I'm making this far more complicated than it is...

What am I missing?

Hi Alexroet

It does sound rather complicated when you put it like that doesn't it! But it really quite simple though.

• You take a photo on your ios5 device
• The photo is saved in your camera roll, and a copy sent to the photostream folder on your device.
• When you come into contact with a WiFi source, the new photo/photos are uploaded into iCloud photostream. (likewise, when you add any new photos to your iPhoto library on your iMac, from an sd card or memory stick for example, they will be copied into the photostream folder).
• iCloud photostream then proceeds to synchronize those new photos with any other suitable devices that you have (laptops, iPads etc..)
• Once they arrive on the sync'd devices, the photos are copied to the permanent library automatically.
• As far as i'm aware, the photos are kept in the iCloud photosteam for 30 days to allow time for sync with other devices, but remain on the actual devices indefinitely until the number reaches a thousand, then i presume they drop off from the oldest first.

As far as i can see, theres no need to sync with iPhoto via the cable if you're using photostream. I haven't had to yet. Presumeably the camera roll is still there on the ios device so that people have a choice as to whether they want to use the photostream functionality. Some people may take many photos, but may have a broadband package at home with a light user package, so can't afford to use it to allow photostream to keep transferring photos.

I'm not sure if you can stop the photos going into camera roll, but that would be a useful feature for me to save me having to keep deleting photos.

I've probably not covered everything, but that's how i see photostream working. Hope this helps! 🙂

I guess the only question I have is even though they disappear from PhotoStream after 30 days do they still stay in your camera roll indefinitely. I think the answer is yes. And if so then I'm ok with that.

Once they arrive on the sync'd devices, the photos are copied to the permanent library automatically.

Are you sure about that?

That's been my experience so far, once they've been copied automatically there wouldn't be any reason that the device would delete them in my opinion.

On the Apple website it actually mentions the automatic process of copying the photo from the photostream.

This is my set up, and I hope it helps everyone to clarify the way photostream works:

iPhone (mine)

White Macbook (wife)

Mac Mini Server (mine... well "home" server)

iMac (Kids)

MacBook Pro (mine)

Photostream is activated on iPhone

Photostream is activated on AppleTV 2G

Photostream is activated on Wife's MacBook, Kid's iMac and "my" MacMini "Home" Server (but only "Automatic Import)

Photostream is activated on MacBook Pro (both "Automatic Import / Automatic Upload)

Take a photo with iPhone.... it goes into Photostream (iCloud), then it downloads and IMPORTS automatically on all Macbook, iMac, MacMini Server, MacBook Pro.

I also have a Nikon D3100. The pics I download from the Nikon, go into my MacBook Pro. Because on my Macbook Pro I activated Automatic Import and Automatic Upload, those pics from my Nikon, go into Photostream, and are imported automatically into the iMac and the MacMini.

Now, when photostream reaches "1000" pics, those pics are "auto-importing" into all the iPhotos's. It automatically creates a "NAMEMONTH 2011 Photostream" event that avoids having to import the pictures with a cable from the iPhone.

It's been working great so far, so I have not had any problems.

Now on my Photostreams on the Apple TV 2g and iPhone are always the latest 1000 pictures (or latest 30 days) at all times all across my family, without having to send them across... all via wifi.

You might be wondering why I have such a set up:

Mac Mini "Home" Server has now an exact copy of the library from the MacBook Pro. Well I also have an Apple TV First Gen, which gets all the movies and photos off the server.

The Apple TV 2G, also allows me to get all my pics and movies off that server.

My wife's Macbook only contains the iCloud photostream, so each month, an "event" is automatically generated on her macbook iphoto's library.