Cameron Paterson

Q: Photo management with iCloud Photo Library?

Hello all

 

I have an iPhone, an iPad and iMac. I have yet to update the first two from iOS 9 to 10 but will do so over the next few days. I recently switched iCloud Photo Library on  for the first time and after several days the 80Gb upload from Photos on my iMac is complete. However, I was extremely confused when I then switched on iCloud Photo Library on my iPhone and iPad to find that the camera roll folder had vanished and there now appeared to be no way tell which photos were on which device, along with an alarming suggestion that iCloud was trying to download thousands of photos to my 64Gb iPhone, complete with a low space warning. The photos on my iPad meanwhile simply stalled, refusing to push to the cloud at all.

Could some kind soul please explain to how this works? What am I missing? How do you manage available storage space by archiving photos and then deleting the local copies if you can't tell which photos are are on your device??

iOS 9.2

Posted on Sep 17, 2016 2:49 AM

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Q: Photo management with iCloud Photo Library?

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  • by FoxFifth,

    FoxFifth FoxFifth Sep 17, 2016 7:26 AM in response to Cameron Paterson
    Level 7 (26,674 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 17, 2016 7:26 AM in response to Cameron Paterson

    With iCloud Photo Library all of your photos are synced to iCloud and to every device where iCloud Photo Library is turned on. Any changes, including deletions, are also synced to all of those places. The Camera Roll album is replaced with the All Photos album. You can reduce the storage required on any device by turning on the "Optimize" option on that device.

     

    See the following for more information:

    iCloud Photo Library - Apple Support

    Get help with your iCloud Photo Library - Apple Support

  • by Cameron Paterson,

    Cameron Paterson Cameron Paterson Sep 17, 2016 7:45 AM in response to FoxFifth
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 17, 2016 7:45 AM in response to FoxFifth

    By 'synched' do you mean actually downloaded to? My photo library is 80Gb+.....who has that much free space on their device?? I thought it was would be like Apple Music or iTunes Match or Photo Stream, where you have a clearly demarcated personal library on your device and then clearly marked content in the cloud..... I think I'm still missing something here....

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 17, 2016 7:46 AM in response to Cameron Paterson
    Level 9 (50,731 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 17, 2016 7:46 AM in response to Cameron Paterson

    Turn optimize storage on.

  • by Cameron Paterson,

    Cameron Paterson Cameron Paterson Sep 17, 2016 7:50 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 17, 2016 7:50 AM in response to Csound1

    Optimising storage isn't going to fit 80Gb into my just under 3Gb of free space

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 17, 2016 7:53 AM in response to Cameron Paterson
    Level 9 (50,731 points)
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    Sep 17, 2016 7:53 AM in response to Cameron Paterson

    Have you tried it already or are you guessing.

  • by FoxFifth,

    FoxFifth FoxFifth Sep 17, 2016 7:54 AM in response to Cameron Paterson
    Level 7 (26,674 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 17, 2016 7:54 AM in response to Cameron Paterson

    Cameron Paterson wrote:

     

    By 'synched' do you mean actually downloaded to? My photo library is 80Gb+.....who has that much free space on their device?? I thought it was would be like Apple Music or iTunes Match or Photo Stream, where you have a clearly demarcated personal library on your device and then clearly marked content in the cloud..... I think I'm still missing something here....

    The idea of iCloud Photo Library is that all of the photos are on all of the devices where iCloud Photo Library is turned on. It's not like Photo Stream -- every photo in the cloud is also on your devices -- the only thing you can do to reduce the space requirement is to turn on Optimize Storage.

  • by Cameron Paterson,

    Cameron Paterson Cameron Paterson Sep 17, 2016 8:06 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 17, 2016 8:06 AM in response to Csound1

    I appreciate the input but it's common sense

  • by Cameron Paterson,

    Cameron Paterson Cameron Paterson Sep 17, 2016 8:07 AM in response to FoxFifth
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 17, 2016 8:07 AM in response to FoxFifth

    So...your entire photo library, no matter how large, is pushed onto all your devices, even they don't have enough space?? Are you sure?

  • by FoxFifth,

    FoxFifth FoxFifth Sep 17, 2016 8:22 AM in response to Cameron Paterson
    Level 7 (26,674 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 17, 2016 8:22 AM in response to Cameron Paterson

    Obviously if you don't have enough space you are going to run into an issue and receive an error message. I am completely sure that iCloud Photo Library is designed to keep ALL of your photos on ALL of your devices where it is turned on as well as on iCloud. There is no option to use it and only have some of your photos on a device. The are only 2 options: 1) turn it on/off and 2) turn Optimize Storage on/off.

     

    Another way of stating it:

    There is no option to have a photo in iCloud Photo Library on iCloud but not have it (either full size or optimized) on a device where iCloud Photo Library is turned on.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 17, 2016 9:10 AM in response to Cameron Paterson
    Level 9 (50,731 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 17, 2016 9:10 AM in response to Cameron Paterson

    Suit yourself

  • by Cameron Paterson,

    Cameron Paterson Cameron Paterson Sep 18, 2016 11:09 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 18, 2016 11:09 AM in response to Csound1

    A quick footnote to say thanks again to all for the input on this issue. I was I have to admit still confused, however, but I was able to speak to Apple Support this morning and they explained the key issue: iCloud Photo Library does not push the entire library onto every device, instead it dynamically manages the available space, replacing full resolution shots with thumbnails according to the space available, and then clearing the photos taken locally on each device into the cloud so it is no longer necessary to do that by hand