confused about iCloud

iCloud is used to unify your content on all the devices you have, but each device does not have to have everything if you don't want it to. For example, i Have a second (old) iPhone which I use for minor tasks and troubleshooting, and it does not have my photos. I have turned off iCloud Photos on that device. Other services can also be turned off in the devices' iCloud settings. My second iPhone has my iCloud calendars, but I might choose also to turn them off for that device.

iCloud is not in itself a repository to park files; it synchronises your content to all devices signed into your account. iCloud is not intended to take the pressure off your iPhone's or Mac's drive.

anything I put on iCloud must also be stored on at least one of the devices

A more accurate description I think is that the content is synchronised between iCloud and at least one device. You can't synchronise with only one place, it takes two: iCloud and a Mac for example.

Individual items (photo, video, document) cannot be moved to iCloud; only entire classes of items, such as all images in Photo.

iCloud Photos synchronises all your photo and video collection and can be accessed in the Photos app on your devices.

Documents are synchronised from the iCloud Drive on a Mac and, if also activated, from your Desktop and Documents folder. You can have documents in other places on your Mac and they won't be synchronised.

If a certain item is on all 3 devices and iCloud, if I delete it from one device, it will also be deleted from iCloud and from the other two devices, too--it will be lost.

Yes, that is how synchronisation works and that is the intent of iCloud - to have the same content on all your devices. It works in other ways too, such as Continuity where you can start a document on your Mac and continue with it on your iPhone; Universal Clipboard to copy from one device and paste into another - and there are more functionalities mentioned in the linked Continuity page. Again, iCloud synchronises this so that each device has the same content and works in partnership.

I had another thread where a reader couldn't visualise how iCloud can be both a space to "store" files AND a synchronisation service. For him it was either one or the other. Clearly iCloud has to have the files on Apple's server to disperse them to all your devices and they are placed in iCloud until you decide otherwise - and the way to delete them is to delete them on one of your devices.

A practical example on how iCloud can be used is from a holiday a family member had. She took her phone and her older MacBook Air with her. She took photos on her phone during the day and on the wi-fi back at her hotel at night they synced to iCloud. Later on she opened her Mac and the photos had downloaded to the Photos app. At home, we were also viewing her photos on her main Mac's Photos' app - half a world away. This is the benefit of having the same data on all your devices.

If you want to archive content off your devices you would be better served by buying an external drive, although having only one copy is a bit perilous as it relies on the drive not failing, which they can do, and you should have additional copies for important content. A Time Machine backup is also essential even if you use iCloud's services.

I don’t have an iPad, and I’ve not had to transfer large files such as videos between iOS devices so I’m not the best to ask about this but I am aware of a few options.

As I understand it, the only way to get the original video from the phone to the iPad is via iCloud...[and not to remain on the iPhone]

Not the only way by a long shot. I investigated two methods of moving videos from one iOS device to another iOS device, in my case two iPhones.

You will need to have iCloud Photos OFF for your iPhone, otherwise the videos you shoot with the camera will save to Photos and upload to iCloud Photos

1 - AirDrop

You could use AirDrop to copy the video files from your iPhone to your iPad. This would deposit them in the iPad's Photos app, and from there you could save it to the Files app on your iPad. Both of these actions have implications for iCloud syncing - if it’s activated on a device it will upload to iCloud because both Photos and iCloud Drive (ie. Files app) are syncing locations. This is what happened when I AirDropped a video from my secondary iPhone (not on iCloud) to my main iPhone (on iCloud).

The only catch here is that if your video files are chunky space-hogging monsters then it may take a while to copy. I am unaware of any size limit for AirDrop.

How to use AirDrop on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

How to use AirDrop on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch – Apple Support (UK)

Use AirDrop on iPhone to send items to nearby devices – Apple Support (UK)

Use the Files app on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch – Apple Support (UK)

2 - Copy your videos from your iPhone to your Mac, and then from your Mac to your iPad.

iPhone to Mac.

You can copy the videos the old way by importing them from your iPhone by using Image Capture. This application will drop them in a folder or desktop. Image Capture is more like a Mac's Finder than Photos; it is a file manager for image files and was used mostly to get photos from a camera to a Mac. At the import stage you can remove the videos from your iPhone as you have indicated that you don’t want to keep them on your phone.

See: Transfer images in Image Capture on Mac – Apple Support (UK)

Once they are on your Mac import them into the TV app (TV app Menu Bar > File > Import) ready for syncing to your iPad.

Mac to iPad

The next step is to get the video files onto your iPad by using a cable to connect and sync it from your Mac over to your iPad; when you choose the option in the Finder sync it is imported it into the Home Movies collection in the TV app - which now manages videos as iTunes once did. It’s my understanding that the TV app does not sync with iCloud, even the Home Movies collection so this does not affect any choice you may want to make about your iPad participating in iCloud syncing.

This does though require you to keep the videos in TV app on your Mac. If you whip it off your Mac the next time you sync they will be deleted from your iPad's TV app, however if you copy a video to Files the TV app copy is expendable. The iPad, and indeed iPod, were designed as satellite devices not as stand-alone devices and depended on a computer to house the content. You would know more than I about the iPad, so perhaps this has changed?

Anyway, I tested this on my kit and this is how it worked.

And again, back up your videos; don't rely on having them just on your iPad.

I'll be brief in this post as it's late at night here, and if nobody else comments I'll add a bit tomorrow.

Could I keep some photos and videos in a folder someplace other than Photos, so they wouldn't go to iCloud?

Yes of course. You have the option of syncing photos between Photos on your Mac to Photos on your iPad (old-school style) and keeping this selection on the iPad without it participating in iCloud Photos.

How can all my devices have the same content if they have different storage space?

This is the problem - they probably can't if storage is low on a device. Mind you, even a large photo library on iCloud takes only a couple of GB. One of my family who will not be named has 40k photos taking 200+GB on our shared iCloud space, but it takes only about 4GB on her iPhone because they are optimised - basically thumbnail copies.

it first downloads from iCloud.

This is iCloud optimising your Mac's storage, and iCloud withdraws files from the Mac in the background when you need space on your Mac and when you haven't used the file in a while, but it is available for download at any time. I've never worked out how long that has to be. If you look at System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud you will see down the bottom of the pane a note which I'll add here:

This indicates that iCloud has permission to manage the space. However, the connection still exists and if you delete the file with the little cloud icon it will delete it from iCloud.

Regarding Time Machine--this would require a different external drive

Yes, ideally a TM drive should not be used for anything else.

You mention archiving items in more than one place

To more than one external drive. Duplicate copies. Or even triplicate; I have three copies of some vital files on externals.

I think I need to keep less stuff. That would solve many of the problems!

Imagine no possessions/It's easy if you try.

Practical problem...If I shoot video with the phone and want to edit it on the iPad...

At this late hour I'm a bear of little brain so if nobody else chimes in I'll cogitate on this tomorrow.