Q: If I delete photos from my iPad are they still saved in iCloud?
i Need to free up storage on my iPad and want to delete some photos. I have lots of available space on my icloud, but don't want the photos deleted from there. Are they saved or just moved to the recently deleted folder? What's the point of iCloud to save the photos if they will be deleted???
iPad 2, iOS 9.2
Posted on Jan 19, 2016 6:20 AM
With iCloud Photo Library enabled, you cannot delete a photo on one device (or at iCloud.com) without deleting it from every device that uses iCloud photo library (and iCloud.com). In order to save space on your mobile devices (and indeed your Mac if you wish to do so) turn on optimisation for photos on these devices (settings > photos & camera > optimise storage on your mobile device and Photo preferences > optimise storage on your Mac)
Optimisation is dynamic, it reduces the resolution of your photos as and when needed, so you may not notice it occurring at first. However when it is needed, it is very effective and users have reported libraries being optimised to much less than 10% of their original size in some cases. My own library is about 9% of its original size on my phone.
Posted on Jan 20, 2016 6:46 AM