How do I move pictures off my phone without losing the pictures permanently? Is there a way to keep the pictures in the cloud without them being on my device?

Move them to your computer. What kind of computer do you have?

How do I move pictures off my phone without losing the pictures permanently?

Sync them to iPhoto on yoru Mac and have at least two good backups including one off site

Is there a way to keep the pictures in the cloud without them being on my actual phone?

Not with iCLoud - could there be another third party cloud service, maybe - no idea about non Apple services

I'm concerned that the sync feature will remove the pictures from the cloud when they are deleted from my phone.

Syncing does not remove anything - but iCloud is not a place to store photos any photos - there is no provision in iCloud for photo storage

LN

Use iPhoto or Image Capture, as you prefer.

LarryHN wrote: "Syncing does not remove anything...".

I'm confused about syncing an iPhone (or iPad I suppose) to iCloud. If photos are deleted from the phone, wouldn't they also be deleted from iCloud? If they are not deleted then the phone and the cloud do not seem to be in sync in my view. Also, if the photos are not removed from iCloud, would they "sync" back to the phone at some point?

Again

but iCloud is not a place to store photos any photos - there is no provision in iCloud for photo storage

LN

Can I back up iPhoto to the cloud via some apple service (iCloud)

No

or do I need to use something else? If so, any recommendations?

An external hard disk:

Most Simple Back Up:

Drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to another Disk. This will make a copy on that disk.

Slightly more complex: Use an app that will do incremental back ups. This is a very good way to work. The first time you run the back up the app will make a complete copy of the Library. Thereafter it will update the back up with the changes you have made. That makes subsequent back ups much faster. Many of these apps also have scheduling capabilities: So set it up and it will do the back up automatically.

Example of such apps: Chronosync- but there are many others. Search on MacUpdateor the App Store

Got it. For photos, iCloud is simply a conduit to another "syncable" (Apple) device.

I would also recommend the build-in Mac Time Machine backup mechanism. It also uses an external hard drive, is easy to set up and backs up your entire Mac hard drive.

More info at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

Correct

LN

iCloud can make a backup of your iDevice. The backup includes photos and videos in your camera roll (except for any in your Photo Stream). See this doc: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12519?viewlocale=en_US

But this iCloud backup is intended for use when your iDevice is lost, stolen, or destroyed. It is not intended to recover photos that you delete and then want back.

Larry,

As I continue to research the iCloud storage mechanism for our possible switch to iPhones, I see conflicting information. Here are two Apple support articles that discuss the data that is stored in iCloud. They indicate that the iOS Camera Roll is stored in the cloud and not just passed through to another device. Take a look if interested and let me know what you think.

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12519

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12793

Cheers,

YOMF

THe first article does not say it 'stores" anything - it says it "backsup" your photos - it does but to access tehm you must restore the backup to the phone

As further expanded on by Mtn Goat

iCloud can make a backup of your iDevice. The backup includes photos and videos in your camera roll (except for any in your Photo Stream). See this doc:http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12519?viewlocale=en_US

But this iCloud backup is intended for use when your iDevice is lost, stolen, or destroyed. It is not intended to recover photos that you delete and then want back.

Article 2 says that you can reduce iCloud storage by deleting photos form your phone - which reduces iCloud storage because they are deleted from iCloud on the next backup - again

but iCloud is not a place to store photos any photos - there is no provision in iCloud for photo storage

If you want to argue that it will store photos then demonstrate how - you won't because it can't

LN

Well I'm not really interested in arguing about anything related to this topic. I'm trying to understand it. My apologies from commandeering Need's thread. This is my last post here.

I don't really understand the difference between 'storing' and 'backup'. But it seems that if you want to restore photos/videos backed up to iCloud it must be all or nothing - there is no user interface that I can find that allows you to view or select one or a subset of photos from that backup.