Freeing Up Space on iPhone Photo Library

iCloud Photo Library is not an archival cloud service. The primary purpose of iCloud Photo Library is to provide a single source where your photos taken from any device will be automatically shared with all devices and computers signed into the same iCloud account with iCloud Photo Library signed in.

iCloud Photo Library manages your storage dynamically. Deleting photos from your device deletes them permanently everywhere. But if your overall library is larger than 893 MB (which it undoubtedly is), then that number won't go down. iCloud has provided as many optimized photos to your device as possible, the rest are thumbnails.

Here are some support articles that may help you to understand how iCloud Photo Library works:

iCloud Photo Library FAQ - Apple Support

iCloud Photo Library Help - Apple Support

Best of luck,

GB

peakoverload wrote:

1) I must admit I find the way Apple handle iCloud and photo libraries really confusing.

2) Doesn't that mean that all my photos and videos should be stored in iCloud and that therefore my Storage should be 0 (or near enough), not 893MB?

1) You are not the only one. iCloud Photo Library has created issues for many. I have had to reply to users who inadvertently deleted their photos from their phone only to find out later that doing so also deleted them from iCloud permanently. Some of these were irreplaceable photos.

2) Gail gave you an excellent overview of the purpose of iCPL. If after reading her articles you want to keep your photos on a true cloud storage service, try DropBox, Photobucket, or a myriad of other cloud storage available on the App Store. With those services you can keep photos on the cloud and delete them from your phone without deleting them on the cloud.

peakoverload wrote:

Looks like I'll just have to delete a few more apps instead. It's only because I'm off on holiday next week and just want a bit more space for a few photos/videos for when I'm not using my proper camera.

I would not be surprised if deleting a few apps results in little or no gain. iCPL may just download more full size photos or more optimized photos thus taking up the space.

Great! You are most welcome 🙂

Have a great vacation!

GB