Searching for an iCloud and iCloud Drive

Question

Searching for an iCloud and iCloud Drive

Am I right in thinking there is a difference between photos in my "iCloud Drive", and photos in my "iCloud Photo Library" ?

I can find my iCloud Drive content Ok, (it appears in my Mac Mini's Finder menu), but how do I access the iCloud Photo library from either my iPhone 5C or my Mac Mini ?

My iPhone 5C has a setting which says - "Automatically upload and store your entire library in iCloud -----"

- which "library" is being referred to - photos on my phone or photos on my Mac Mini.

Mac mini, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4), iPad Mini, iPhone 5c, Watch Sport.

Posted on Aug 29, 2015 6:23 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 29, 2015 1:02 PM in response to Dan Mitchell1

Yes they are different. You will see photos from the iCloud Photo Library in the Photos app on your Mac and on your phone. If iCloud Photo Library is enabled, the library on each device will be the same.

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Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Aug 29, 2015 1:44 PM in response to Dan Mitchell1

Automatically upload and store your entire library in iCloud -----"- which "library" is being referred to - photos on my phone or photos on my Mac Mini.

The iPhone.

Mini - Photos/Preferences/iCloud - set up syncing there.

Also log into iCloud.com to see if the photos are there.

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Answer 3

Aug 30, 2015 10:03 AM in response to Eric Root

Very helpful - thanks !

Now that I understand the above, this is how I would like matters photographic to work ----

Copies of Photos/Videos taken on the iPhone to automatically upload to iCloud as soon as wifi is available, originals to stay on the phone full size until deleted. But iPhone not to download/sync. other photos/videos from iCloud originating on my Mac Mini or iPads.

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Answer 4

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Aug 30, 2015 5:23 PM in response to Dan Mitchell1

You are welcome. If you delete the photos from the iPhone, they will delete from iCloud. The best you can do is enable syncing to upload the photos and then disable syncing, deleting as required. Make sure Photos Preferences on the computer are set to maintain photos on the computer. You might be better off syncing through iTunes.

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Answer 5

Sep 7, 2015 3:57 AM in response to Eric Root

Basically I use my iPhone 5C for stills and short movie sequences - so when filming I need the most space on the phone to temporarily hold new material until it is transferred to my Mac Mini for turning into a film - when it is wiped off the Phone to get space for the next film material.

So an automatic backup to the Cloud would be useful, but what I don't need is my Phone also downloading photos from two other pads, or even worse downloading thousands of low resolution copies of my entire Cloud collection. The last time I turned on, on my iPhone, the "iCloud Photo Library", a tiny line of script said - "preparing 2116" items !

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Answer 6

Sep 7, 2015 2:21 PM in response to Dan Mitchell1

It doesn't work the way you want it to unfortunately.

If you have any suggestions that you think might enhance the Photos Application you can send Apple your feedback here

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Answer 7

Sep 7, 2015 2:24 PM in response to Winston Churchill

I can see that now ! Ok then, what's your best suggestion to get me as near as my objective as possible - especially keeping the iPhone clean of downloading/syncing external material already recorded elsewhere.

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