When I have "Download Originals to this Mac" selected, is the icloud library being automatically downloaded to the local disc? Are changes to the iCloud, like deleting photos in the icloud via my phone coming to delete them from the local disc? Or, restated, will icloud changes be able to affect the downloaded local library? I shouldn't think so but I wanted a second opinion.
Thanks
iCloud is a sync service (not a backup service) It is intended to keep all libraries identical accross all your devices and in iCloud.
If you add a photo on any connected device, it is added to all devices. Edit it: the same.
If you delete a photo on any connected devices it is deleted everywhere.
Same applies to changes you make online in iCloud - all changes replicated to all devices.
So yes, your downloaded library *is* affected.
iCloud is a sync service (not a backup service) It is intended to keep all libraries identical accross all your devices and in iCloud.
If you add a photo on any connected device, it is added to all devices. Edit it: the same.
If you delete a photo on any connected devices it is deleted everywhere.
Same applies to changes you make online in iCloud - all changes replicated to all devices.
So yes, your downloaded library *is* affected.
No - that is not how iCloud works. It always maintains a synchronised library.
If you want to reduce space used on your iphone (or other devices), you can tell it to optimise iPhone storage, and then it won't keep the full size originals on the phone, only thumbnails and small previews. But it will always show all photos on all devices.
Great, thanks for clarifying, Tony. Can you provide a suggestion to allow for an unaffected strategy?
The main practice is pictures are taken from our iphones, sync'd via icloud and downloaded into the photo app "Photos Library.photolibrary" files on our main computer.
How can you make a computer library the unaffected comprehensive library of photos? Can we download and store icloud photos in an unaffected way?
Photos app - iCloud and Download originals
