Jeeples
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Syncing photos only TO MacBook using Yosemite, iCloud and ios8.3

So, I just updated my MacBook to Yosemite, and my iphone 5s to 8.3. I turned on icloud sharing in the photos app on the MacBook, but what I really want is for photos from my iphone to automatically back up to my computer. I don't want photos on my computer to then transfer back to my iphone. I want to be able to keep space free on my iphone. Can someone help me determine how to do this? I'm guessing there's a better way.

MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2008), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on May 10, 2015 5:34 PM

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Jeeples

Q: Syncing photos only TO MacBook using Yosemite, iCloud and ios8.3

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  • by norm123,

    norm123 norm123 May 12, 2015 3:01 PM in response to Jeeples
    Community Specialists
    May 12, 2015 3:01 PM in response to Jeeples

    Hello Jeeples,

     

    Let’s see if we can clear some things up for you regarding your photos on your iPhone and your MacBook Pro. So to answer the major question of keeping the space free on your iPhone after you have imported them to your computer, there is not a way for you to have photos on your iPhone without it taking up space. Now there are two ways to make this work. One is using iCloud Photo Library. When using this, it will keep everything in sync for you and you will not even have to sync to get the photos over. What it can do for your iPhone is to reduce the photo size to be optimized for your iPhone to try and keep the library small there. The first link can answer that plus other questions you may have about iCloud Photo Library.  

     

    iCloud Photo Library FAQ

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204264

     

    The other would be the way you are currently doing with iCloud Photo Sharing after you have imported and deleted the content from your iPhone. 

     

    iCloud Photo Sharing FAQ

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202786

     

    There are third party options if you would like to look into them. You could look into Flickr, Dropbox or Copy are some suggestions, but make sure to research those guys before setting it up.. You can also search within the App Store on your iPhone for some other alternatives for photo storage. 

     

    Flickr

    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flickr/id328407587?mt=8

     

    Dropbox

    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dropbox/id327630330?mt=8

     

    Copy for iOS

    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/copy-for-ios/id546789632?mt=8

     

    Regards,

    -Norm G.  

  • by Jeeples,

    Jeeples Jeeples May 12, 2015 4:27 PM in response to norm123
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 12, 2015 4:27 PM in response to norm123

    Hi, Norm,

     

    Thanks so much for you reply! I actually don't mind much whether the photos stay on my iphone. I want them to upload automatically to my computer and stay there (until I manually delete them from the computer), so that when I subsequently delete them from my phone (to save space) they don't get removed from my computer too. Does that make sense?

     

    Christie

  • by macron,

    macron macron May 14, 2015 9:50 AM in response to Jeeples
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    May 14, 2015 9:50 AM in response to Jeeples

    Hello jeebles. You might want to consider letting the iCloud Photo Library do its magic. I just started using it and have 11,400 photos and videos (videos taken with my iPhone) available on my iPhone and they take only 3.2 GB of storage space. iCloud Photo Library conserves space in the iPhone so you can really get a lot of photos without worrying much about space. I was pretty amazed at how well it worked. Additional iCloud storage space is really inexpensive. I bought 200 GB for just less than $50 for a whole year.