Minipene
Level 1 (4 points)
iPhone

Q: Optimized photos - missing ones

For a couple of weeks I have noticed a strange behavior in cloud storage apps such as Google Drive, Mega or Dropbox. I usually make backup copies of my photos using these apps, but lately when I access my camera roll using their built-in file selector to choose the images I want to copy I find that thousands of them are missing (from the 5000+ I currently have to merely 1000+). It happens in all these applications but not in apps of other nature (for example, WhatsApp shows my 5000+ photos).

 

 

I've read somewhere that the reason for this is the "Optimize photos" option under "Settings, Photos and Camera" (excuse me if this is not the exact name in english, I use iOS in spanish), which I had activated. For that reason I have downloaded the original photos again to my device, and the problem seems to be solved.

 

 

My question is: can this be a bug in iOS, or am I doing something wrong?

 

 

Currently using an iPhone 6 128GB, iOS 9.3.

 

 

Thanks for your help.

iPhone 6, iOS 9.3.3

Posted on Jul 19, 2016 2:54 AM

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Q: Optimized photos - missing ones

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  • by tim_135,

    tim_135 tim_135 Jul 19, 2016 3:04 PM in response to Minipene
    Community Specialists
    Jul 19, 2016 3:04 PM in response to Minipene

    Hi Minipene,

     

    I understand that you have some questions about the functionality of the "Optimize iPhone Storage" option for iCloud Photo Library. I know it's nice to have control over your storage, so I'm happy to provide some direction to help with this.

     

    It seems that your iPhone is behaving as expected in this circumstance. When "Optimize iPhone Storage" is enabled, your iPhone will store full resolution photos in iCloud, and only show you thumbnails for those images until you go to view them. Because of this, any external applications that go to look for the original files will not find them unless you've previously downloaded them to your iPhone.

     

    You can read more about this, and iCloud Photo Library here:

    iCloud Photo Library - Apple Support

     

    This should clarify things. Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities, cheers!