Shakey64

Q: Photo library - bit of a mess.

Hi

I have an iPhone 6 plus with 9.3.2 (136F69), a iMac with 10.11.5 and an Ipad Pro with 9.3.2 (136F69).  I have somehow managed to get 13,000+ photos on my iPhone taking up 26gb+ of the phone (it's 64gb capacity).  I want to have all my photos on my iMac (& backed up via Time Machine) and Cloud and just the ability to use the cloud to view photos on the phone as and when required.  I adjusted the setting on the iPhone for photos via Cloud settings to be:

  • iCloud Photo Library is selected
  • Optimise iPhone Storage is selected
  • Upload to my Photo stream is selected
  • Upload burst photos is not selected
  • icloud Photo sharing is selected
    • (I have the same setting on the iPad)

I thought this might resolve the issue but the photos are still on the phone

How do I ensure I have all the photos on my iMac and the Cloud but easily delete the ones stored on the the iPhone?  I have managed to copy all from the phone to my iMac hard-drive.

 

If I delete from the iPhone (is there an easy way to delete without selecting the 13,000 individually?) and then import into Photos on the iMac from the copy i made to the iMac hard-drive (assuming deleting from iPhone will also delete from the Cloud) would that work?

 

I have looked for an answer but haven't seen anything that suggests how this could be done.  Any help would be most appreciated as I have gotten myself in a bit of a mess

Thanks Shakey

iMac 21.5, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Jul 19, 2016 11:42 AM

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Q: Photo library - bit of a mess.

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  • by razmee209,

    razmee209 razmee209 Jul 19, 2016 4:08 PM in response to Shakey64
    Level 7 (32,904 points)
    Jul 19, 2016 4:08 PM in response to Shakey64

    Shakey64 wrote:

     

    Hi

    I have an iPhone 6 plus with 9.3.2 (136F69), a iMac with 10.11.5 and an Ipad Pro with 9.3.2 (136F69).  I have somehow managed to get 13,000+ photos on my iPhone taking up 26gb+ of the phone (it's 64gb capacity).  I want to have all my photos on my iMac (& backed up via Time Machine) and Cloud and just the ability to use the cloud to view photos on the phone as and when required.  I adjusted the setting on the iPhone for photos via Cloud settings to be:

    • iCloud Photo Library is selected
    • Optimise iPhone Storage is selected
    • Upload to my Photo stream is selected
    • Upload burst photos is not selected
    • icloud Photo sharing is selected
      • (I have the same setting on the iPad)

    I thought this might resolve the issue but the photos are still on the phone

    How do I ensure I have all the photos on my iMac and the Cloud but easily delete the ones stored on the the iPhone?  I have managed to copy all from the phone to my iMac hard-drive.

     

    If I delete from the iPhone (is there an easy way to delete without selecting the 13,000 individually?) and then import into Photos on the iMac from the copy i made to the iMac hard-drive (assuming deleting from iPhone will also delete from the Cloud) would that work?

     

    I have looked for an answer but haven't seen anything that suggests how this could be done.  Any help would be most appreciated as I have gotten myself in a bit of a mess

    Thanks Shakey

    iCloud Photo Library - Apple Support  any changes you make on one device will also reflect on the other devices.

    My Photo Stream FAQ - Apple Support  photo stream I believe is the same way.

     

    Import photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Jul 19, 2016 4:20 PM in response to Shakey64
    Level 8 (37,876 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 19, 2016 4:20 PM in response to Shakey64

    All photos in iCloud Photos are replicated on all devices that share that iCloud Photos library. If this is not what you want you cannot use iCloud Photos.

  • by Shakey64,

    Shakey64 Shakey64 Jul 20, 2016 2:37 AM in response to Lawrence Finch
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iPhone
    Jul 20, 2016 2:37 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

    Hi Lawrence

    Thanks for the reply (& Razmee).

    I guess I didn't understand the way the iCloud workd when I made settings. I had assumed that all photos were in cloud and that if I wanted them I'd download from the optimized version (thumbnail).  Now that I understand how it works I am trying to sort my mess.  I have a copy of my library from my phone on my iMac hard-drive, If I delete from the iPhone (is there an easy way to delete without selecting the 13,000 individually?) and then import into Photos on the iMac from the copy i made to the iMac hard-drive (assuming deleting from iPhone will also delete from the Cloud).  Would that work?

     

    BTW from my perspective it would be great if you had an option to have all in the cloud available to draw down from any device but with one device (an iMac in my case) designated as the the master where you could delete etc.  That surely is a more effective use of the cloud as a storage solution - i.e. not storing in cloud and multiple devices?

    Regards

    Shakey

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Jul 20, 2016 3:22 AM in response to Shakey64
    Level 8 (37,876 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 20, 2016 3:22 AM in response to Shakey64

    I don't like the way iCloud Photos is implemented, either. So I use upthere.com and Google Photos, both of which work the way you described. The photos are kept in the cloud, and are only downloaded when you view them.

     

    The easiest way to delete them from the phone is to simply turn off iCloud Photos.