How to store all iPhone pictures/videos on iCloud?

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Level 1

1 points

How to store all iPhone pictures/videos on iCloud?

I have a 30G iPhone 5S. I subscribe and pay for 200G in iCloud storage. I am trying to have all my photos and videos be saved from my phone onto iCloud which I can then also access on our MacBook. Under "General -- Usage -- Manage Storage" I have selected "Camera Roll" to back up to iCloud. Also, under "Settings -- iCloud " I have"Photos" sleected. I keep getting warnings that I do not have sufficient storage to take pictures and videos.

Questions:

1. How do I back up and store my entire "Photo Library" (i.e. pictures and videos) to my iCloud account?

2. How do I sync all the pictures and videos on my iPhone to my MacBook? Not just the "Photo Stream" pictures?

I thought by purchasing the iCloud space, I would have the 200G to take as many videos/pictures as I wanted since they would be stored there and not on my actual phone with the limited hardware storage. Please advise....this is SO frustrating!

Information:

Product - iPhone 5S

OS - 7.1.1 (11D201)

Model - ME309LL/A

Capacity - 27.4GB

iPhone 5s, iOS 7.1.1

Posted on Mar 5, 2015 9:36 AM

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Answer 1

FoxFifth

Level 10

468,837 points

Mar 5, 2015 12:44 PM in response to juliescubas

An iPhone backup to iCloud stores the photos on iCloud but the backup of the photos (and the other data on the phone) are only useable for a complete restore (e.g, in the event of a problem with the phone or when moving data to a new phone).

Apple does not have a method of storing all iPhone photos on iCloud using iOS 7 in a way that you could then access them and sync to a Mac other than Photo Stream.

iCloud Photo Library (beta) can be used to store your photos on iCloud in a way that they can be retrieved but you would need to upgrade your phone to iOS 8.

You turn iCloud Photo Library (beta) on via Settings > iCloud > Photos > iCloud Photo Library (Beta). There is more information at iCloud Photo Library beta FAQ - Apple Support

Note the following quote from that link:

How does iCloud Photo Library save space on my device?

If you turn on Optimize [device] Storage, iCloud Photo Library will automatically manage the size of your library on your iOS device, so you can make the most of your device's storage and access more photos than ever. iCloud Photo Library stores the original, high-resolution photos and videos in iCloud and can keep lightweight, device-optimized versions on each of your devices. As long as you have enough storage, recent photos and videos that you access the most will stay on your device at full resolution.

To turn on Optimize [device] Storage on your device, tap Settings > iCloud > Photos or Settings > Photos & Camera, then select Optimize [device] Storage. You need an Internet connection to access an original photo or video that’s stored only in iCloud.

Also note that the new Photos app for the Mac that integrates with iCloud Photo Library has not yet been released but is expected with the next release of Yosemite (i.e., OS X 10.10.3); In the meantime you could access them via a browser at iCloud.com.

With iOS 7 there are other 3rd party solutions (not involving iCloud) that may do what you want. Examples you may want to investigate include Flickr and Dropbox.

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