Delete photos from iPhone but not Photos.app

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Level 1

28 points

Delete photos from iPhone but not Photos.app

How do I delete photos from iphone camera roll without deleting them from Photos on the iMac? iCloud Photo library is turned off, and iCloud Photo streaming is turned on. The photos stream to Photos on the iMac via the iCloud photo stream. How do I delete the photos from my phone (which I use as the camera, but not for photo storage) while I continue to use iCloud streaming as the tool to copy photos to Photos.app on my iMac? I'm afraid that if I delete them from the iPhone camera roll, they will also delete from iCloud Streaming after 30 days. Then, I'm afraid they will delete from the Photos program on my iMac and be forever lost.

iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12), iphone 6, iPad air, iCloud, TimeCap

Posted on Sep 30, 2016 9:08 AM

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Answer 1

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Sep 30, 2016 9:31 AM in response to Russ Hoffman

When you use MyPhoto Stream as documented everything added to each device is added to MPS and streamed to all other devices using MPS - on the Mac the photos from MPS are imported to the Photos library if you have the copy imported items to the Photos library checked and will not be deleted after 30 days or when deleted form the Phone - since you do not trust the documentation then your need to test it yourself to verify how it works to yoru personal satisfaction.

My Photo Stream FAQ - Apple Support

How many photos can My Photo Stream store?

You can choose to download all of your photos from My Photo Stream to your Mac and PC automatically.

Photos 1.0 or later: Open Photos and go to Preferences > General. Select Copy items to the Photos library.

iPhoto or Aperture: Go to Preferences > Photos (or Photo Stream) > My Photo Stream > Automatic Import. All of your photo stream photos will import into your Events, Projects, Photos, Faces, and Places folders in iPhoto or Aperture.

To save storage space, your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch keep your most recent 1000 photos in the My Photo Stream album. From My Photo Stream, you can browse your photos or move the ones you like to another album to keep them on your iOS device forever. And if your Apple TV has limited storage, you'll see only your most recent photos.

LN

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Answer 2

Russ Hoffman Author

Level 1

28 points

Sep 30, 2016 9:46 AM in response to Russ Hoffman

Thank you for your feedback. So it sounds like I can delete photos from my iPhone camera roll and they won't be deleted from my Photos program in the "All Photos" album. It's not so much that I don't trust Apple documentation but I don't see where it says that photos in your Photos library on your iMac will not be removed when you delete them from your iPhone Camera Roll, or even 30 days later when they are deleted from MFS. Thanks again!

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