Q: Photos
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Aug 4, 2016 7:58 PMby elcpu,Have any of these photos been imported to the PC before?
Do you have iCloud Photo Library turned ON? (don't do it, just report back)
What version of Windows and iTunes do you have?
Try the steps here to see if they help:
Import photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
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Aug 6, 2016 6:52 AMby Sexy Kitty,Hi,
No I have never downloaded any photos to my PC before. Everything is backed up to the cloud
My icloud photo library has always been turned on, on both my iPad and iPhone. I have photos dating back to 2010 in the library when I click on photos. All I want to be able to do is take whatever is on the local iPhone and iPad and put them on my PC so that I am able to take more photos.
my iPad is 32G so I can still take pictures with that, however my iPhone is only 16G
I tried doing it through iTunes but it doesn't even see my iPhone so I just plugged the iPhone into the laptop as an additional drive and it only saw those few photos
my iTunes is Version 12.4.3.1. It just updated the other day
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Aug 6, 2016 7:42 AMby elcpu,Sexy Kitty wrote:
....I tried doing it through iTunes but it doesn't even see my iPhone so I just plugged the iPhone into the laptop as an additional drive and it only saw those few photos...
The reason is that you have iCloud Photo Library enabled. In order to download the pictures to your PC you would have to log on to iCloud.com from a browser on your computer and download the pictures from there. Once iCPL is turned on you cannot import pictures directly from the phone. I strongly suggest that you review the following article for details. You would not want to accidentally delete the photos. iCloud Photo Library - Apple Support
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Aug 6, 2016 9:08 AMby Sexy Kitty,Thanks for your help. I've read through all of the information online about how iCloud and iCloud Photo Library works and just find it all very confusing. It's frustrating because I LOVE Apple over Windows. This is why I've made a couple of trips to the Apple Store when I could but unfortunately the closest one is over 2 hours away. So I only go when I'm traveling somewhere and there's an Apple Store in the area.
When I went in the store last week, it all sounded so simple. I was there for almost an hour. They sat and explained how the cloud works, looked at both my iPhone and iPad, went through all the settings with me and everything. I explained my issue and asked what I could do. He showed me how I was using 2.3G of space with photos on the phone (locally). He told me that all I needed to do was go home, plug the phone into my laptop with the USB cord and just copy the photos from the phone to free up space and then I could delete the ones from the phone. He said this wouldnt affect the ones in the cloud because they were already backed up in the cloud. And I was only deleting the local ones.
In case you're wondering, I'm actually computer literate
But when I came home to do it, it only saw a few pictures. I don't want to do anything that will delete all my photos so I guess it looks like I'm stuck not being able to take any more pictures with my phone.
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Aug 6, 2016 9:39 AMby elcpu,Please see my comments in blue below...
Sexy Kitty wrote:
Thanks for your help. I've read through all of the information online about how iCloud and iCloud Photo Library works and just find it all very confusing. It is confusing to me and others as well. One of the reasons I do not use iCPL (there are many others).
It's frustrating because I LOVE Apple over Windows. This is why I've made a couple of trips to the Apple Store when I could but unfortunately the closest one is over 2 hours away. So I only go when I'm traveling somewhere and there's an Apple Store in the area.
When I went in the store last week, it all sounded so simple. I was there for almost an hour. They sat and explained how the cloud works, looked at both my iPhone and iPad, went through all the settings with me and everything. I explained my issue and asked what I could do. He showed me how I was using 2.3G of space with photos on the phone (locally). He told me that all I needed to do was go home, plug the phone into my laptop with the USB cord and just copy the photos from the phone to free up space
Sorry to say but they told you incorrectly. If iCPL is enabled you will not be able to import the photos from the phone to the PC. You would have to download the photos from iCloud.com
and then I could delete the ones from the phone. If you do with iCPL enabled you will delete them from iCloud and your other devices as well. Please make sure that you have downloaded them first and they are safely in your PC and for good measure, backup the pictures to an external drive.
He said this wouldnt affect the ones in the cloud because they were already backed up in the cloud.
You were told incorrectly again.
And I was only deleting the local ones. No
In case you're wondering, I'm actually computer literate
I know you are, I can tell. I am computer literate as well. Bear with me please, I am not bragging but I am an Engineer (PhD from Rice U.) and started working with computers a long time ago. iCloud Photo Library is confusing to most of us.
But when I came home to do it, it only saw a few pictures. I don't want to do anything that will delete all my photos
Smart. Just download them to your PC from iCloud.com. Once you see them on the PC, copy them to an external HD or large flash drive. You will be safe then.
so I guess it looks like I'm stuck not being able to take any more pictures with my phone. See above....
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Aug 6, 2016 5:01 PMby Sexy Kitty,Thank you!! You've been very helpful. OK, that is what I will do.
I Don't know why they don't give a better understanding of the iCloud Photo Library and photostream. I do like the fact that my photos show on both devices. I also think it's great that they are all there dating back to 2010 but it doesn't help if they're just sitting in the cloud and taking up space on my devices.
What I'd really like to be able to do is to take all my photos and have them automatically upload to my iCloud Drive but there's no simple way to do that which also doesn't make sense. They told me I'd have to download all the photos to my PC and then upload them to my icloud drive. He looked at me like I was nuts when I asked about doing it.
What's the purpose of me having 50G of space in my iCloud Drive if I can't easily use it?
Im determined to master all of this because everything else Apple is so much better than my Windows PC
