I am trying to store some photos on my iCloud drive so that I can delete them from my iPhone. Here is what I'm doing, but it's not working:
Settings, iCloud, Photos, then I'm turning on the iCloud Photo Library.
I am under the assumption that once I do that, the photos in my camera roll should upload to iCloud?
Nothing is happening and when I go to the Shared section, there are no photos.
What am I missing or not doing correctly? Thanks.
iPhone 5s, iOS 9.2.1
Using the iCloud Photo Library does not allow you to delete the photos from the phone. You can optimize the photos in the settings in order to downsize them to make best use of the space, but you can not delete them from the phone. All that iCloud photo library does, is allow you to view all of your photos on all enabled devices and keep whatever you do on one device in sync with all other device. If you delete them from the phone, they are deleted everywhere - including from iCloud.
iCloud Photo Library FAQ - Apple Support
IF you want to make room on the device, import them to your computer and then delete them from the phone.
Import photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer - Apple Support
Thanks Demo. I was not aware that they would be deleted from my phone.
I've already dowloaded photos from my phone to my mac, but I have less than a hundred photos that I don't need on my phone, but wanted access at all times to them. I thought the iCloud storage would be the way to go. One would think a cloud option would be a true cloud option? Guess that is too much to ask for, LOL?
Outside of my intent, why are the photos not going into the iCloud shared option?
Frankly, I don't use iCloud Photo Library because it really isn't a cloud storage facility, and know just a little bit about it. I hope this will answer your questions
***Settings, iCloud, Photos, then I'm turning on the iCloud Photo Library.***
That is where I found the information above, that I tried, but did not work.
I still want to be able to use iCloud for photos. I could move them from my phone to my computer, then put them from my computer to the iCloud. This way they would be off my phone, but accessible when I wanted.
But I want to start with the phone, why aren't the photos in my camera roll going into iCloud based on my turning on the iCloud photo library from the iCloud settings on my phone?
I still want to be able to use iCloud for photos. I could move them from my phone to my computer, then put them from my computer to the iCloud. This way they would be off my phone, but accessible when I wanted.
iCloud is not designed to do this. It is for keeping photos available on all devices that use the same Apple ID. It's not about off-device storage, it's about immediacy and accessibility. It's what allows you to make a photo on your iphone and have it available on your Mac, PC or iPad without effort on your part.
It's a syncing service.
Thanks LAC, but I'm confused. Why wouldn't it work for storage? I do it with documents, they're saved on my mac, but in iCloud. They are not on my iPhone, but I can access them through iCloud. That's what I want to do with a bunch of photos.
But back to the original dilemma, why isn't the iCloud drive not putting the photos from my camera roll into it if I've turned it on?
I'm sorry. I didn't forget. I was out for a while. I can not explain why the photos are not uploading to iCloud. I assume that you logged into iCloud.com to see if the photos are there, but if they are there, they should be in the photos app as well.
I wish that I had more to offer, but I don't. Maybe you should look for help here. There are many more iOS/iCloud users posting in there.
Like Demo said, iCloud is not a "true" cloud storage. You might consider Dropbox or Photobucket to keep your pictures on the cloud. Once they are there, deleting them on your phone will not delete them from Dropbox, Photobucket, etc. However I strongly recommend that you first import the pictures to a computer to have a solid backup, can never be too careful with photos that are not replaceable... 🙂
Sorry for my interaption :
I also use iCloud Photo Library .
If I will not delete any pictures , Why this option can't be as a Backup solution in addition to syncing ?
You can call it storage/backup if you want... but it will not be a great solution for storing photos ONLY on iCloud and not on the phone.
There are cloud services more suited to off device storage.
I'm still confused as Apple sells more space if you run out of the free 5GB, so how can it not be a cloud based storage system? It's called iCloud for crying out load. I'm not trying to start a ******* match here, but I just see it as a cloud as it's called that.
But let's get back to the problem at hand for now. Why are my photos on my camera roll not going into iCloud after I've turned it on?
Apple sells you more space because iCloud can be used for backups as well as iCloud Photo Library. If you have several iOS devices like I have, you can eat up the 5GB of free storage for backups in no time.
Please take my suggestion and post your question in this forum. I think that you need a start over. This forum might have more users that are better versed in the ways of the iCloud Photo library. It can't hurt to try in that forum.
If you have your iCloud Photo Library enabled on your phone, the photos should start to upload to the library. If not, check your wifi, attach the phone to ac and be patient. How many photos do you have to upload? Where are you uploading from? Have you interrupted the upload process by leaving a wifi zone? Most ISPs do not provide a fast pipe for uploads.
Photos do not go to a shared space by default. shared albums are created by you. There are no default shared albums other than FAMILY.
On iCloud.com you will see your uploaded photos in MOMENTS and some default albums (not shared) like screenshots, video, recently deleted etc.
***If you have your iCloud Photo Library enabled on your phone, the photos should start to upload to the library. If not, check your wifi, attach the phone to ac and be patient. How many photos do you have to upload? Where are you uploading from? Have you interrupted the upload process by leaving a wifi zone? Most ISPs do not provide a fast pipe for uploads.***
I turned the iCloud Photo Library on and nothing happens. Wifi is good, phone charged, etc. I have 78 photos in "All Photos". They should loud fairly quickly, but again, nothing is happening. Maybe I'm missing something else?
I'm assuming that they should appear under the "Shared" tab in the bottom middle of the phone app?
I checked Finder and nothing there. But here is what's weird, if I log into iCloud from www.cloud.com, the pics are there. Why not on the phone under the shared section? Or even in Finder on my mac?
You haven't shared anything yet. The photos are still where they started from on your phone. If they are seen on iCloud.com, iCloud has done it's job already.
To see them on your Mac, you have to use the Photos application making sure you have signed in to iCloud using the same Apple ID as the phone. They won't be visible in Finder.
The shared albums are created by you either on the phone, on iCloud.com or on your Mac. You create an album, add photos to that album and then they will be visible.
iCloud Photo Library...
