Enzo Lombard
Level 1 (124 points)
iPhone

Q: deleting photos on iPhone deletes on all my devices again

This is a recurring problem that seems to come and go without making any settings or software changes. 

 

When I delete photos from my iPhone (to free space) they delete from all devices and also on my desktop. 

 

I have to go to Recently Deleted and restore them, but then they are back on my iPhone and all devices again.

 

I keep hearing this is not supposed to be the way it happens but I don't even know where the issue is.  It is my iCloud settings, my iCloud prefs on my computer, my iPhone?  This has plagued me since September.  It comes and it goes and every time i think I have it under control it starts up again.

 

Any ideas of references?  My computer is new.  But I cloned all the info from the other computer.

 

thanks

enzosf

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 9.2

Posted on Feb 27, 2016 6:18 PM

by LACAllen,Solvedanswer
LACAllen LACAllen
Level 5 (5,465 points)
iCloud
A:

This is exactly what is supposed to happen.

 

No plague. This is the design.

 

iCloud is a syncing service. It's purpose in life is to synchronize the content between your phone and PC. Delete in one spot, deletes in another.

Posted on Feb 27, 2016 8:33 PM

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Enzo Lombard

Q: deleting photos on iPhone deletes on all my devices again

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  • by LACAllen,Solvedanswer

    LACAllen LACAllen Feb 27, 2016 8:33 PM in response to Enzo Lombard
    Level 5 (5,465 points)
    iCloud
    Feb 27, 2016 8:33 PM in response to Enzo Lombard

    This is exactly what is supposed to happen.

     

    No plague. This is the design.

     

    iCloud is a syncing service. It's purpose in life is to synchronize the content between your phone and PC. Delete in one spot, deletes in another.

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Feb 27, 2016 8:39 PM in response to Enzo Lombard
    Level 7 (26,875 points)
    iCloud
    Feb 27, 2016 8:39 PM in response to Enzo Lombard

    Are you using iCloud Photo Library? If you are, then you have turned on an option which stores your entire photo library in one place - iCloud. You have access to that library from any device or computer that is signed into the same iCloud account and which also has iCloud Photo Library turned on. Here are a couple of articles about iCloud Photo Library and how it works:

     

    iCloud Photo Library FAQ - Apple Support

     

    iCloud Photo Library Help - Apple Support

     

    If you would rather just import your photos to your Mac (either manually or set it up to do that automatically), you would turn off iCloud Photo Library and then under the Photos app on your Mac, set up the Preferences to import your photos automatically, or you would import them manually.

     

    If you have a PC, you would need to import them manually.

     

    Here are the links that explain how to do a manual import:

     

    PHOTO IMPORT IOS TO MAC/PC

     

    IMPORTING PHOTOS - WINDOWS/MAC

     

    Cheers,

     

    GB

  • by Enzo Lombard,

    Enzo Lombard Enzo Lombard Feb 27, 2016 9:32 PM in response to LACAllen
    Level 1 (124 points)
    iPhone
    Feb 27, 2016 9:32 PM in response to LACAllen

    Ok thanks.  I must have hit upon a more ungeniusy genius, because he kept telling me that only deleting them on my computer should update them on the iphone, but that deleting the photos from my iphone should not delete them from my icloud.  I've actually come across a few articles that suggest the same.  And its not doing that consistently, unless some setting is being changed I can't find. 

     

    So then, there is not a way to control the storage on your iphone so it doesn't fill up using iCloud Photo, but there are workarounds?  The main issue is the phone filling up and wanting to free up space on the phone without losing them in iCloud.  I can certainly shut it off and go back to importing them.  I just saw a lot of info that contradicted it.  And the genius appointment wasn't specifically about this issue, so maybe he didn't understand what i meant. 

     

    thanks

  • by LACAllen,

    LACAllen LACAllen Feb 27, 2016 9:54 PM in response to Enzo Lombard
    Level 5 (5,465 points)
    iCloud
    Feb 27, 2016 9:54 PM in response to Enzo Lombard

    Not really. The limiting factor is always going to be the device's storage.

     

    If you are syncing a phone, a home computer and the iCloud... the smallest storage device will typically be the phone. And unlike a home PC and the iCloud, you can't arbitrarily add storage to your phone. It's fixed at purchase.

     

    So again, keep the design of iCloud in mind. It's designed for immediacy. To have your virtual photo a;album available no matter what device you have at hand.

     

    If you want to free up space on your phone, you must move your photos out of the syncing system. The best possible compromise is to set your library for "optimizing". This continually shrinks the size of the photos kept on your weakest link, the phone. Some report a 90% space saving between the same photos in the cloud and on your phone. i.e.: 1GB on your phone is equal to 10GB of original file online using Apple's servers.

     

    The other option is to exclude the weakest link, the phone,. from syncing. So just sync between home PC (lots of HD space) and the cloud. This of course removes what is certainly the most desired feature of the while thing... all photos on the device that is in your hands.

     

    A classic case of picking your battle.