Confused about iCloud backup

Question

Confused about iCloud backup

Hello,

My friend has an iPhone but no computer. We are considering getting her on iCloud for two reasons:

1) To back up her phone

and

2) To be able to archive off some data so that she can regain some space (currently her phone is completely full).

Although I have been reading up on iCloud the one thing I cannot seem to understand is whether the second point is possible or not. More specifically, is iCloud backup more like sync or an actual backup. Can she "move" pictures and videos off of her phone and onto iCloud easily (to make more room locally) and if so, are these archived files reasonably accessible (either by re-downloading them to her phone) or via a web-page interface from another machine?

Thanks for any help. I am reasonably technically savvy, but have almost no experience with the iOS ecosystem.

Posted on Feb 26, 2015 9:17 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Ingo2711

Level 9

70,257 points

Feb 26, 2015 10:16 PM in response to Bernhard VonZastrow1

Check this article about it:

Photos: Use iCloud Photo Library beta to keep your entire library, including photos and videos, stored in the cloud and up to date on all your iOS devices and on iCloud.com. Use iCloud Photo Sharing to share photos and videos with just the people you choose, and let them add photos, videos, and comments.

You can use iCloud Photo Library beta to automatically upload your photos and videos to iCloud, so you can access them from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and on iCloud.com. Because iCloud Photo Library beta keeps your original photos and videos in iCloud, you can choose to keep device-optimized versions on your devices, helping you make the most of your space on your device. When you add or edit a photo on an iOS 8.1 device, the new or changed photo appears on all your iOS 8.1 devices that have iCloud Photo Library beta turned on. iCloud Photo Library beta also keeps track of organizational improvements you make to your photo library. You’ll always see the latest versions of your photos, videos, and albums.

You can also access all your photos and videos on your Mac or Windows computer, using the Photos app on iCloud.com. All your photos and videos are organized in the same way they are on your iOS devices.

copied from iCloud: iCloud Photo Library beta overview

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Answer 2

Feb 27, 2015 7:29 PM in response to Ingo2711

Thank you for the quick reply. This article helped.

The bit I am still not completely clear on is if she were to delete a photo from her local phone, would it also be deleted from the iCloud? The article you sent seems to indicate that the iCloud is a kind of mirror of the local storage, only with higher res versions of everything. Sort of like dropbox, but with the enhancement that it optimizes your local copy of the photo.

In the FAQ there is this line: "You need an Internet connection to access an original photo or video that’s stored only in iCloud."

This implies that it is possible to have files that ONLY live in the cloud. But later on in the same article it says: "Deleting a photo or video from your Photos app will also remove the item from iCloud Photo Library and from your iCloud storage allocation". So now it seems more like sync.

In any event it seems like something to try that will at least reduce her memory usage.

Thanks.

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Answer 3

Ingo2711

Level 9

70,257 points

Mar 1, 2015 8:58 AM in response to Bernhard VonZastrow1

Yes, it seems that the original photo data is being stored in iCloud until you delete the photo on your device, which also can be a computer instead of your iPhone.

And the option to download an optimized version will save space on your device, just like syncing photos via iTunes if you use your computer.

Deleting a photo or video from your Photos app will also remove the item from iCloud Photo Library and from your iCloud storage allocation. Photos and videos you remove can be recovered from the Recently Deleted album for 30 days. After 30 days, your content will be removed from the Recently Deleted album. Photos are backed up on our servers for up to 30 days after they're deleted from the Photos app. If you need to recover these photos during that time, contact Apple Support.

But photos you want to keep should be backed up, just like your camera roll should be if you don't use the iCloud photo library:

iCloud Photo Library stores all of your original photos and videos in iCloud. If you want to keep a backup of your library, we recommend backing up to your Mac and Time Machine or connecting to your PC.

So it seems to me that you will need a computer at some point at least to back up those photos, that you don't want to lose, just because you need more space on your device or these photos are not so interesting anymore at this point, but maybe of use in the future.

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