Repelstale

Q: How to add multiple photos to iCloud Drive?

L.S.

 

I want to use iCloud Drive to share some of my photos with my mother. I've used Dropbox for that up till now, but now that I've got the upgrade for 50GB of iCloud storage that seems the better choice.

 

However, unlike Dropbox I seem only able to select one photo at a time for iCloud Drive (Photos > Select > Add to iCloud Drive). Am I missing something here?

 

With kind regards,

 

Repelstale

iPhone 6, iOS 8.1

Posted on Sep 22, 2016 3:27 PM

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Q: How to add multiple photos to iCloud Drive?

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  • by zinacef,

    zinacef zinacef Sep 22, 2016 3:50 PM in response to Repelstale
    Level 5 (4,851 points)
    Applications
    Sep 22, 2016 3:50 PM in response to Repelstale

    First of, iCloud Drive is different from your iCloud Photo Library, and your photos are stored in the latter, not the former.

     

    I believe what you're looking for is this -- iCloud Photo Sharing - Apple Support

  • by Repelstale,

    Repelstale Repelstale Sep 23, 2016 4:57 AM in response to zinacef
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 23, 2016 4:57 AM in response to zinacef

    Mmm... I'm not sure what I'm going to choose, because both iCloud Drive and iCloud Photo Sharing seem to be a solution.

     

    See, my mother uses my Apple ID, so her iPad is basically one of "my devices" when it comes to the use of iCloud.

    Like I said, up till now I've used our shared Dropbox folder to share photos from my iPhone to her iPad. Once this free (and limited) Dropbox account was full I would put all these photos on her iPad camera roll (using Photosync), so I would be able to add more photos in my Dropbox. Just a little maintenance once every few months, so to speak.

     

    But now her 16GB iPad is almost full of these shared pictures.

     

    I thought of opening iCloud Drive on her iPad and my iPhone, exporting all those photos stored in her Camera roll to a folder in iCloud Drive, and using iCloud drive on my iPhone to add new pictures that I want to share to that folder.

     

    But then I noticed I could only add one photo at a time to iCloud Drive. I still don't understand why they made that so. I've found an app that lets you upload multiple file at a time to iCloud Drive, but still, strange...

     

    iCloud Photo Sharing seems an interesting alternative, and you don't have to use Fotostream or iCloud foto library. I don't want all my photos in the cloud, nor upload them there automatically, I just want to select some to share in the cloud. I find I can add more photos at a time with iCloud Photo Sharing. I'm a little worried that it has a max of 5000 photos, that would be about 10GB, while my iCloud Drive still has 45+GB left.

     

    Maybe I'm missing some pros and cons of both solutions here. Any feedback?

  • by zinacef,

    zinacef zinacef Sep 23, 2016 7:42 AM in response to Repelstale
    Level 5 (4,851 points)
    Applications
    Sep 23, 2016 7:42 AM in response to Repelstale

    Well, first of, your mother should have her own Apple ID, which is really easy to create -- Create and start using an Apple ID - Apple Support

  • by Repelstale,

    Repelstale Repelstale Sep 23, 2016 8:27 AM in response to zinacef
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 23, 2016 8:27 AM in response to zinacef

    Sorry, Zinacef, but that's totally besides the point and does not answer my question at all. It's actually because of the fact that we share the same Apple ID that we can use iCloud this way, so it's deliberate and works to our benefit.

     

    So, to get back to my actual question: which option is preferable? Maybe I'm missing something with either the iCloud Drive solution or the iCloud Photo Sharing solution that makes one the obvious better choice.

  • by zinacef,

    zinacef zinacef Sep 23, 2016 8:29 AM in response to Repelstale
    Level 5 (4,851 points)
    Applications
    Sep 23, 2016 8:29 AM in response to Repelstale

    Then I can't help any further as Apple ID's aren't meant or created to be shared.  Contact Apple Support for further assistance.

     

    Good luck!

  • by Repelstale,

    Repelstale Repelstale Sep 23, 2016 8:32 AM in response to zinacef
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 23, 2016 8:32 AM in response to zinacef

    Alright, thanks anyway for replying

  • by Repelstale,

    Repelstale Repelstale Sep 23, 2016 8:43 AM in response to Repelstale
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 23, 2016 8:43 AM in response to Repelstale

    Well, maybe there is one thing you can help me with, that has nothing to do with the shared Apple ID, and that's iCloud Photo Sharing.

     

    It looks like a wonderful solution, and I can add other people as well. It doesn't even effect my iCloud storage capacity it seems. Where is it stored? Is there a catch to this?

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 23, 2016 11:51 AM in response to Repelstale
    Level 9 (72,605 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 23, 2016 11:51 AM in response to Repelstale

    It goes through Apple's servers, it just doesn't count against your storage.

  • by LACAllen,

    LACAllen LACAllen Sep 23, 2016 6:08 PM in response to Repelstale
    Level 5 (5,224 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 23, 2016 6:08 PM in response to Repelstale

    iCloud Drive was not designed for photo management although it can hold photos.

     

    There is a dedicated Photos app for this.

  • by Repelstale,

    Repelstale Repelstale Oct 1, 2016 8:17 AM in response to LACAllen
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Oct 1, 2016 8:17 AM in response to LACAllen


    I have started using iCloud Photo Sharing to share selected photos with my mother on her iPad. The good news is it works. The bad news is that there still seems some memory drainage going on while using this. I haven't deleted all the locally stored photos yet, thinking I would use iCloud Photo Sharing for the newly added photos only. She is still down at 350 MB. After I close the app and the iPad, and then restart, a little memory is restored though. Is there some cache that I can clear once in a while to prevent this from overflooding her iPad anyway? Otherwise, the only option seems that I upload all of her locally stored photos in iCloud Photo Sharing, and delete them all on her device. I'd rather not though.

  • by LACAllen,

    LACAllen LACAllen Oct 1, 2016 8:25 AM in response to Repelstale
    Level 5 (5,224 points)
    iCloud
    Oct 1, 2016 8:25 AM in response to Repelstale

    When she accesses a shared album on her iPad, those photos are downloaded to her device.

     

    Did you not expect that? You can share with her and by making a website she can access instead of an album in Photos.

     

    That would mean she needs to be online, but those photos are not stored on her device at any time, unless she actually downloads them.

     

    You can't simply "move" her photos from her device to icloud. That's not how it works.

     

    iCloud Photo Library is a syncing service, not off device storage.

  • by Repelstale,

    Repelstale Repelstale Oct 1, 2016 8:56 AM in response to LACAllen
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Oct 1, 2016 8:56 AM in response to LACAllen

    No, LACAllen, I did not expect this. As you can read in previous posts I was looking for a way to prevent memory shortage, and I was pointed towards Photo Sharing. I haven't found anything mentioning local storage on the Apple pages anyway.

     

    But maybe there's a way out: If I turn on iCloud Photo Library on her iPad (and NOT on any of my own devices), just the photos stored on her device will be saved in the iCloud, right? There's plenty of space for just the photos I want to share with her in there. Or does this mean the photos on all of my devices will be transferred to the iCloud as well?

  • by LACAllen,

    LACAllen LACAllen Oct 1, 2016 9:18 AM in response to Repelstale
    Level 5 (5,224 points)
    iCloud
    Oct 1, 2016 9:18 AM in response to Repelstale

    But maybe there's a way out: If I turn on iCloud Photo Library on her iPad (and NOT on any of my own devices), just the photos stored on her device will be saved in the iCloud, right? There's plenty of space for just the photos I want to share with her in there. Or does this mean the photos on all of my devices will be transferred to the iCloud as well?

     

    The question is also about Apple ID's. You have said you share one with her. Still correct?

     

    If so, to the entire Apple system, you are the same person. The Photo Library is the same for each device signed in with the same Apple ID. There are no "her" photos.

     

    The content from her device is added to the content from your device.

     

    If she has her own Apple ID, she will see and be able to access the shared albums you create for her and invite her to, but not ALSO have your entire library on her device.

     

    If you are sharing an Apple ID, she is able to view all your photos right now in the camera roll with out the need for the albums. FYI, they do not take up extra space by being in an album.

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