Create a subset of photos from iCloud Photo Library....

Question

Level 1

46 points

Create a subset of photos from iCloud Photo Library....

I am using iCloud Photo library, which is OK but burdensome.

Is there a way to define a subset of photos from this library to have on my iPhone as opposed to having everything on my iPhone?

Several issues from my point of view;

- I don't want to wade through all my photos on my iPhone, I can easily select ~30% of all my photos that I want available

- Currently, photos on my iPhone is consuming 11GB of memory, way too much

- I know I can create a new system library with a limited number of photos, but find managing multiple libraries a real pain

Any suggestions are welcome

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Aug 22, 2016 2:55 PM

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Answer 1

Rysz

Level 8

44,461 points

Aug 22, 2016 3:02 PM in response to Reed4

Using iCloud Photo Library is purely optional. To reduce amount of storage space used on your iPhone, set it Photos to use an Optimized local library.

If you opt not to turn iCPL on, use iTunes to select and sync what you want to keep on the iPhone. Turn My Photo Stream on to automatically copy new images from the iPhone to your computer.

Photos User / Help guide:

https://help.apple.com/photos/mac/1.0/?lang=en

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Answer 2

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Aug 26, 2016 3:08 AM in response to Reed4

It is not possible to use a subset of your library - You can duplicate your Photos library and then delete unwanted items from your system library (only the system library is synced with ICPL) so you have a complete library on your Mac and a second smaller library with selected photos synced to ICPL - if you do this PowerPhotos will be a useful utility

LN

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Answer 3

Reed4 Author

Level 1

46 points

Aug 26, 2016 3:08 AM in response to LarryHN

LN,

Thanks for the clarification.

Managing multiple photo libraries has been a logistical hassle for me, since in my thinking I want to keep a master library with all my photos, and creating a new smaller system library, will have new photos added, but a non-system "master" will not have those pics.

I'll check out PowerPhotos later.

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Answer 4

Reed4 Author

Level 1

46 points

Aug 26, 2016 5:18 AM in response to Reed4

For what it is worth, I needed to restore my iPhone today (not related to photos).

Once that ordeal was complete, the memory used on my iPhone for photos dropped by about 4GB.

Any idea what that happened. To me it seems like Apple is managing photo settings with little or no user input.

I'm glad to have more available memory, just perplexed on how ICL and mobile devices interact. A flow chart would be nice if anyone has one.

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Answer 5

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Aug 30, 2016 5:14 AM in response to Reed4

I am not aware of any specific information available on how the optimization is done - and yes it is totally automatic - no user control

LN

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