WestVanPete
Level 1 (9 points)
iCloud

Q: On Trip - deleting Synced Photos without Mac

I'm stuck!

 

I'm currently on a long holiday and want to add photos and videos I'm taking with my Camera to my iPad to share etc.  But I'm running out of space!!

 

However, my iPad has some older videos on it that I can't seem to delete.  I think they are synced from my Mac at home, so I could probably delete them if I was home.   But I won't be home until MAY, after my trip of course.

 

So the question is, is there ANY WAY I can delete these Synced Albums on my iPad without erasing my iPad?

 

Erasing my iPad is the only thing I haven't tried but SEEMS A BIT MUCH just to delete a few big videos to free up some room.

 

Any ideas?

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Apr 7, 2016 12:00 PM

by Skydiver119,Solvedanswer
Skydiver119 Skydiver119
Level 7 (28,287 points)
iPad
A:

WestVanPete wrote:

 

 

 

I think it's funny that Phil Schiller says this can replace a laptop!  He must be such a joker at work.

Yeah, sorry to say an iPad will never replace a laptop. At least not until the day that there's 100% wifi access everywhere (and considering that there are whole chunks of this country that don't even have good cell coverage, I wouldn't hold my breath for that happening anytime soon) would it even come close. And then, while the walled garden is wonderful for a more secure device, the lack of a file manager can hamper things.

I wish you luck on your files and I hope the rest of your holidays go better.

Posted on Apr 7, 2016 4:35 PM

Close
WestVanPete

Q: On Trip - deleting Synced Photos without Mac

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Skydiver119,Helpful

    Skydiver119 Skydiver119 Apr 7, 2016 2:08 PM in response to WestVanPete
    Level 7 (28,287 points)
    iPad
    Apr 7, 2016 2:08 PM in response to WestVanPete

    No, you can't I'm afraid

     

    When you synced those videos into your photos app you basically told your iPad 'hey, keep these in sync with the master files on my computer'. And, to keep them in sync, you cannot alter those files without using iTunes and your computer to do so.

     

    In your situation I think the best thing - short of uploading your new photos to something like flickr which uploads high res files you can share, would be to get them onto your iPad, share then delete, keeping the files on your camera card as a backup and to be downloaded 'for keeps' when you get home

  • by WestVanPete,

    WestVanPete WestVanPete Apr 7, 2016 2:38 PM in response to Skydiver119
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iCloud
    Apr 7, 2016 2:38 PM in response to Skydiver119

    Thank you for confirming my fears.

     

    I'm going to reset this thing to factory settings to get the space back.  Only trouble this causes me is that the music I put on the iPad to use as background music on my iMovies will disappear along with the factory reset.  Also the WiFi in this small town isn't so good so I'm not going to want to restore my iCloud backup.  I'll just set it up as a new device which means I lose all my settings.

     

    I think it's funny that Phil Schiller says this can replace a laptop!  He must be such a joker at work. 

  • by FoxFifth,

    FoxFifth FoxFifth Apr 7, 2016 3:20 PM in response to WestVanPete
    Level 7 (26,590 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 7, 2016 3:20 PM in response to WestVanPete

    If you turn on Settings > iCloud > iCloud Photo Library that will delete synced photos without deleting anything else.

    Note that it will also upload your remaining photos to iCloud. See:

    iCloud Photo Library FAQ - Apple Support

    Get help with your iCloud Photo Library - Apple Support

  • by WestVanPete,

    WestVanPete WestVanPete Apr 7, 2016 3:59 PM in response to FoxFifth
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iCloud
    Apr 7, 2016 3:59 PM in response to FoxFifth

    Thank you for the suggestion, but they are not part of iCloud Photos.  They are synced from my Mac, which means they show up in Albums but I can't seem to delete them from the iPad, I need to delete them on my Mac using iTunes and then sync back their deletion.

     

    My issue is that my Mac is thousands of miles away and I'm on holidays.  So I'm between iMac and a hard place.  Because Post-PC device.

     

    So full factory reset seems like my only option here to recover the space.  And I see what Skydiver said about Flickr, which is great, but I'm running out of space mainly due to movies.  And Flickr compresses photos, so thats not even ideal for Photos. 

     

    Sadly the iPad is not quite up to the task I'm asking of it.  It's more like a big phone than a laptop replacement.  No big deal, lesson learned I guess.

  • by FoxFifth,

    FoxFifth FoxFifth Apr 7, 2016 4:10 PM in response to WestVanPete
    Level 7 (26,590 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 7, 2016 4:10 PM in response to WestVanPete

    WestVanPete wrote:

     

    Thank you for the suggestion, but they are not part of iCloud Photos.  They are synced from my Mac, which means they show up in Albums but I can't seem to delete them from the iPad, I need to delete them on my Mac using iTunes and then sync back their deletion.

     

    ...

     

    I understand that. When you first turn on iCloud Photo Library on an iPad or iPhone, if you have any photos on the device that were placed there by using iTunes to sync them to the device you will receive a warning that the synced photos will be deleted from the device.

  • by FoxFifth,

    FoxFifth FoxFifth Apr 7, 2016 4:15 PM in response to WestVanPete
    Level 7 (26,590 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 7, 2016 4:15 PM in response to WestVanPete

    Maybe a clearer way for me to state it:

    iCloud Photo Library and synced photos from iTunes are incompatible. They will not coexist on a device. If you turn on iCloud Photo Library on a device, any photos synced via iTunes will be deleted from the device.

  • by WestVanPete,

    WestVanPete WestVanPete Apr 7, 2016 4:17 PM in response to FoxFifth
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iCloud
    Apr 7, 2016 4:17 PM in response to FoxFifth

    I understand now!  That's a brilliant idea that I would love to try.

     

    However they are 32 GB of 4K videos shot with a Panasonic GH4.  Where I am that may take two weeks to sync with iCloud space I don't own!

     

    I know its my fault for having them on my iPad at the start of this trip - I just didn't think I couldn't erase them (stupid me).

     

    But thank you for that suggestion -

  • by Skydiver119,Solvedanswer

    Skydiver119 Skydiver119 Apr 7, 2016 4:35 PM in response to WestVanPete
    Level 7 (28,287 points)
    iPad
    Apr 7, 2016 4:35 PM in response to WestVanPete

    WestVanPete wrote:

     

     

     

    I think it's funny that Phil Schiller says this can replace a laptop!  He must be such a joker at work.

    Yeah, sorry to say an iPad will never replace a laptop. At least not until the day that there's 100% wifi access everywhere (and considering that there are whole chunks of this country that don't even have good cell coverage, I wouldn't hold my breath for that happening anytime soon) would it even come close. And then, while the walled garden is wonderful for a more secure device, the lack of a file manager can hamper things.

    I wish you luck on your files and I hope the rest of your holidays go better.

  • by WestVanPete,

    WestVanPete WestVanPete Apr 7, 2016 5:03 PM in response to Skydiver119
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iCloud
    Apr 7, 2016 5:03 PM in response to Skydiver119

    Thanks very much!

     

    This is not a huge deal for me - just running into a few hiccups with the iPad as a travel companion.  First time I've run into this problem and I'm just amazed it hasn't been sorted.  I've seen threads back to 2012 about people complaining about this.  Hard to believe it's an edge case.

     

    Good learning experience tho - and given the tradeoff between size & weight, the iPad may actually suit me just fine.  I just need to adapt.  And I agree with you.... this ain't a Laptop replacement until they give us more with iOS.  Right now it's an incredible piece of hardware running a phone OS.  (which is fine, but you just need to accept that)

  • by bfcl57,

    bfcl57 bfcl57 May 31, 2016 6:24 AM in response to FoxFifth
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    May 31, 2016 6:24 AM in response to FoxFifth

    This worked perfectly! I was able to delete 24,000+ synced photos from my iPhone. The process of deleting the photos took about 5 minutes to complete, but I achieved what I'd been trying to do.