iCloud Photo Library (beta) - how does it work?

I thought the same as well when I first noticed, but the only photos that should be in the there are the ones being backed up from the 'camera roll' from my iOS devices. Given that I know nothing about how it all works you could be right.

i Should say as well that I have really old photos of mine in there that were once in my photo stream that have turned up in my backed up folder in Onedrive.

i'm not complaining about getting my old photos but it must be getting them from the cloud, hence me thinking this problem is on iCloud

All very weird, I don't know what to think.

I'm not seeing the iCloud Photo Library settings on my 5S. I've got the newest update, 8.0.2, and I cannot figure out how to enable it.

When i turned on it says: "iCloud Photo Library Not Yet Available" 😠 Is there anyone else having the same problems?

I have same problem. It is irritating.

OK, let me understand...

I i choose to keep optimized version, when i click on a photo it downloads the full resolution of it so i can edit or share the photo right?

So, seems like if i scroll through all the foto in the library i would eventually end up having downloaded all of them af full resolution...

What i don't understand is: afret a certain amount of time, will those full resoltion photos be erased from iphone and substituded with optimized version again?

Optimized versions look great on your screen. Merely "scrolling" through your photos and viewing them on your screen does not require a full resolution download. If you want to print, email, or edit the photo, then the full resolution photo will download. I suppose that yes, if you were to go through and attempt to edit or share every single photo in your library in one session that yes, you would "end up having downloaded all of them at full resolution.."

Yes, as part of the process, iOS deletes the full resolution versions of the photos, replacing them with the optimized versions. I believe it does this oldest to newest, based on when you last edited/shared/printed a photo.

I am unable to turn on the iCloud Photo Library (beta) on any of my many devices. I get the message "iCloud Photo Library Not Yet Available". So I am unable to do any attempts as you have.. Maybe this would work? Go in Aperture then to preferences, hit the import tab & the first box down says "When Camera is connected, Open" Then Change settings from Aperture to image capture. Then when the next time you plug in your iPhone or iPad it will open image capture, click your device & import (there are many choices where to import)

Maybe that will work? I guess Ill find out tomorrow 10-20-2014 @ 1pm Eastern time zone when apple releases 8.1.

iCloud photo library is not yet supported (practically speaking) on Mac. It will be when they release the new Photo app in 2015. For now you're sill limited to using the old photo stream in iPhoto and Aperture.

Just enabled iCloud Photo Library after 8.1 update...one issue though: Visited beta.icloud.com where the photos app can be found, but downloading any photo from there results in a 2048 x 1536 picture, smaller than the actual picture of 3264 x 2448 pixels....any idea why? I have set my iphone to optimize storage and upload the full-resolution photos to icloud....so much for that full resolution...

I just did the 8.1 update and turned on iCloud photo. I get the same results, the photos uploaded to iCloud from the iPhone and then downloaded via the beta.icloud.com photo app are not the full resolution version. I also tried both settings for saving and uploading with the same result. I was hoping for a real backup of my photos taken. If this can't be changed iCloud Photo Library is of little value to me. Looks like I will be turning it off for now....

Also my backup somehow got stuck...it says "Uploading 1 video" for more than one hour now...I miss the days when betas worked better 😝

I chose:

1. Optimize iPhone Storage: When you select this, all your photos and videos are uploaded on the iCloud and are removed from your phone. However, the thumbnails of both photos and videos still remain in the Photo Album. When you click on a particular photo or a video, it basically streams the photo/video there and then from the cloud. In other words, it creates a photo stream automatically and deletes local copy.

Wow, all photos are now removed from my iPhone 6 Plus. Well, it is my fault but now how do I get the photos back on my iPhone, or how does one see them from iCloud? This is a bit scary, I am always going to my iPhone to share photos and show clients. Truly I am now lost. I am all ears any suggestions?

To see all your photos, go to beta.icloud.com on your PC or Mac, and choose the photos app. Here you will find all your photos, grouped by albums just like in gour iphone...there's a downside though: photos downloaded from here are not quite full res...don't know why..I posted about this issue here. To get them back, I supoose you have to choose "Download and keep original" in your iPhone's settings.