BoyertownPR

Q: Photos and iCloud backups

I use photostream to sync photos between my iPhone and my iPad both running iOS 8.  Do I need to include photos on the iCloud backup or is this using twice the storage on iCloud? I'm concern that if I include photos on iCloud backup I wil run out of space.

iPhone 6, iOS 8

Posted on Oct 14, 2014 8:35 AM

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Q: Photos and iCloud backups

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  • by razmee209,

    razmee209 razmee209 Oct 14, 2014 8:44 AM in response to BoyertownPR
    Level 7 (33,215 points)
    Oct 14, 2014 8:44 AM in response to BoyertownPR
  • by BoyertownPR,

    BoyertownPR BoyertownPR Oct 14, 2014 10:45 AM in response to razmee209
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 14, 2014 10:45 AM in response to razmee209

    I already read that. It does not answer the question. If my photos on my camerara roll, which went away with iOS 8 btw, are in photostream, why do I need to back them up with iCloud bsckup?

  • by razmee209,

    razmee209 razmee209 Oct 14, 2014 10:47 AM in response to BoyertownPR
    Level 7 (33,215 points)
    Oct 14, 2014 10:47 AM in response to BoyertownPR

    My Photo Stream FAQ

     

    Because photos stream is only a temporary storage space, you shouldn't rely on that to keep all your pics.  Read the FAQ about it.

     

    also you should be importing all your pics to your computer iOS: Import personal photos and videos from iOS devices to your computer

  • by BoyertownPR,

    BoyertownPR BoyertownPR Oct 14, 2014 11:05 AM in response to razmee209
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 14, 2014 11:05 AM in response to razmee209

    Ok, we are getting closer. I do copy all important pictures to my pc, I make them smaller, and create albums which I sync with either my iPad or iPhone as desired. That way those photos I want on my devices do not take as much space. If I understand correctly, iCloud backup does not back up photos synced from iTunes which is fine with me. That leaves those photos on my iPhone which I have decided not to move to my pc and create albums. Those photos are on both my devices through PhotoStream. My question is, do I need to back up the photos or can I just recover from PhotoStream? Also, does PhotoStream delete photos based on date (like older than 30 days) or does PhotoStream have a max number of photos it will hold?

  • by razmee209,

    razmee209 razmee209 Oct 14, 2014 11:28 AM in response to BoyertownPR
    Level 7 (33,215 points)
    Oct 14, 2014 11:28 AM in response to BoyertownPR

    Your iOS devices keep a rolling collection of your last 1000 photos in the Photos tab (or My Photo Stream album in iOS 7). From there, you can browse your recent photos or move the ones you like to another album to keep them on your device forever.

  • by BoyertownPR,

    BoyertownPR BoyertownPR Oct 14, 2014 12:44 PM in response to razmee209
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 14, 2014 12:44 PM in response to razmee209

    i still have the same questions regarding photos and iCloud backups. This is what I think I know. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

     

    1. iCloud does not back up photos in my iPhone 6 photo album synced through iTunes (they are already backed up on my PC). 
    2. Photos I take on my iPhone 6 go into the photo tab.
    3. Using PhotoStream, those photos from the photo tab are backed up on the cloud (separate from my 5gb iCloud storage) and sent to my iPad.
    4. The photo tab on the iPhone on iOS 8 keeps the latest 1,000 photos.
    5. 1,000 photos could take 3gb of data

    Dones it make sense to use close to 3gb of data to back up photos that are backed up on PhotoStream?

     

    If I do not back up the photos in my photo tab with iCloud backup, will the be restored from PhotoStream to my iPhone in the event I get a new phone or I'm force to do a hard reset?

     

    If I create an album by moving photos from the photo tab on my iPhone, are they still in PhotoStream? Do they get backed up to iCloud backup?

  • by razmee209,

    razmee209 razmee209 Oct 14, 2014 1:00 PM in response to BoyertownPR
    Level 7 (33,215 points)
    Oct 14, 2014 1:00 PM in response to BoyertownPR

    Photostream isn't a backup device, please do not rely on that to backup your phone.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 14, 2014 1:02 PM in response to BoyertownPR
    Level 9 (50,417 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 14, 2014 1:02 PM in response to BoyertownPR

    razmee hit it on the head.

     

    Photostream keeps a maximum of 1000 photos for 30 days. Long term storage it is not.

  • by Cheesy Goat,

    Cheesy Goat Cheesy Goat Jun 24, 2016 7:21 PM in response to BoyertownPR
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Jun 24, 2016 7:21 PM in response to BoyertownPR

    So what about Photo Library instead of Photo Stream?  Will Phone Backup (with photos selected) be a second copy of the photos already in my iCloud Photos?