iPhone Photo Library or Backup?? So confused!

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iPhone Photo Library or Backup?? So confused!

I am extremely confused on whether to use or not the iPhone Photo Library.

As I understood it, if I toggle the option, then my iPhone and iCloud will be perfectly synced, i.e. any change (including deletion) on one will be mirrored on the other. From what I have read, if I toggle the option then this will be the only 'back-up' and the regular back-up will not include Photos. Is that correct?

Should something then happen to my phone, when I get a new one can I restore my photos from the Library copy? Am I right to believe that someone could easily hit 'delete all' in my phone which would then sync and kill the 'back-up'?

If I switch to a new device, how does the sync work? Assuming the new phone is now empty, would it sync to download the photos from the Cloud Library, or would it sync to delete everything from the Library?

Is there a dummy guide? I am very confused as to toggling or not the iPhone Library feature.

Thanks!

iPhone SE

Posted on Dec 19, 2018 4:47 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Eric Root

Level 10

684,111 points

Dec 19, 2018 6:06 PM in response to brianlynchw

You are welcome. If you were signed into iCloud when you lost the phone, the person would only need your passcode unless you had locked the phone using Find My Phone, which is what you should do if you lose the phone.

Find My Phone - If your device is lost or stolen

Find My Phone - Lock and track your device using Lost Mode

Since you don't have any other Mac devices, there isn't any need to sync to iCloud. Turn syncing off and then the photos will be included in a backup.

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Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

684,111 points

Dec 19, 2018 5:36 PM in response to brianlynchw

Paragraph one is correct.

If you get a new phone and sign into Settings/Your Name/iCloud using the same Apple ID, you can sync the photos to the new phone. For someone to delete all your photos from iCloud, they would need to know the passcode for the phone.

It would sync to download the photos to the new phone.

See if this helps.

Photo Library

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Answer 3

brianlynchw Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 19, 2018 5:58 PM in response to Eric Root

Hi Eric, thanks for your reply! It served perfectly to answer my questions.

I suppose re: the second point you mean that to get access to the photos one would have first needed the passcode. But there is no security prompt then, is there?

Any advice on using the standard backup or the iPhone Library? I do not have other Mac devices, so the sync benefit is limited I supposed.

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Answer 4

brianlynchw Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 19, 2018 6:14 PM in response to Eric Root

Thanks again for taking the time Eric. I think that settled my question, I will stick to standard backup, and make sure to lock the phone if it is ever stolen. Cheers, Brian

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Answer 5

Eric Root

Level 10

684,111 points

Dec 19, 2018 6:15 PM in response to brianlynchw

You are welcome.

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iPhone Photo Library or Backup?? So confused!

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