Photo Stream stopped working

Question

Photo Stream stopped working

Photos taken on my iPhone are no longer copying to Photo Stream and hence are not syncing with either my iPad or MacBook. Everything was working OK until nearly 4 weeks ago but despite making no setting changes, now only pictures sent on WhatsApp to my phone and screenshots go to Photo Stream.

I have googled for a solution and tried all the suggested answers such as good battery charge, good Wi-Fi connection, turning off camera app, re-booting, etc, etc but nothing works. I’ve even switched off the photo stream under iCloud and turning back on but this simply repopulates with WhatsApp pictures and screenshots (and actually losing camera photos previously in photo stream).

Photo stream does sync with my other devices, but as I say, only WhatsApp pictures and screenshots.

The same happens with photos taken on my iPad. They don’t copy to photo stream on that device either. I can find no solution that specifically addresses this issue. Is it only me having this problem? Extremely frustrating!

Can anyone assist please?

iPhone 11, iOS 15

Posted on Apr 16, 2022 3:52 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

SravanKrA

Community+ 2024

Level 10

414,540 points

Apr 16, 2022 6:15 PM in response to mikefromevesham

You may have a solution here --> About iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream - Apple Support

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Answer 2

May 4, 2022 1:39 PM in response to fabio968

Long conversation with Apple support yesterday. Issue partially resolved but awaiting further contact.

As I understand it, part of the problem may be related to recent software update which changes resolution of new photos which means they don’t go to PhotoStream.

New photos taken on my iPhone and iPad now go to PhotoStream album on respective devices and sync across with each other. However, they still don’t sync with my MacBook and on this I’m waiting to hear back from Apple.

What seemed to resolve iPhone/iPad is to change photo resolution.

Go to settings > camera > formats. Change High Resolution to Most Compatible.

May have to delete PhotoStream and then turn back on.

I don’t understand why more people aren’t having this same problem.

Hope this may help.

Settings > tap on your Apple ID > iCloud > photos > My photo stream > toggle off/on

Make sure any existing photos in this album are saved elsewhere as they will be deleted. When turning PhotoSteam back on this album may re-populate. You may have to reboot device(s). Old photos won’t go to PhotoStream and sync, but new photos may. That worked for me.

Hope this helps.

I don’t understand why more people aren’t having the same problem.

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Answer 3

May 8, 2022 7:21 AM in response to mikefromevesham

I just realized that nothing has populated the my photo stream on my phone, therefore not on my iPad. Like lots of people, I don’t want to lose some of the photos in the Stream which means I will have to save them first then try the solution. I hope it works.

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Answer 4

olimas

Level 1

8 points

May 12, 2022 3:51 AM in response to mikefromevesham

Many thanks! I got lot of problems on my iPhone, had 4 calls with their support, one visit in an Apple Store and nothing was solved until I found your solution. It is absolutely clear that Apple wants to terminate My Photo Stream, but I can't understand why they are so reticent in providing solutions like this through their agents.

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