Apple Photos High Sierra - Not sync without wifi

Indeed, it doesn’t sync via personal hotspot anymore. Really annoying, since I have unlimited cellular data and no WiFi at home. Have to go to the mall for a public hotspot or sync at my friends place or work. Crazy limitation that was introduced with High Sierra. Don’t think it’s something we can fix, but Apple has to allow again.

Report to Apple - iCloud - Photos - Apple

according to the ICPL page - iCloud - Photos - Apple -- they should upload/download over either WiFi or cellular

Your photos. Uploaded automatically.

iCloud Photo Library is built into the Photos app, so when you’re connected via cellular or Wi-Fi, all the photos and videos you take on iPhone and iPad are automatically uploaded as soon as you finish shooting. And photos and videos imported from your DSLR and action cameras to your Mac or iPad are also uploaded to your iCloud Photo Library.

LN

By default only downloads from iCloud are done using the cellular network, but not the downloads from iCloud. There is a caution in the iPhone User Guide:

http://help.apple.com/iphone/11/#/iph961b96c4d

Note: To always use cellular data to upload and download from iCloud Photo Library, go to Settings > Photos > Cellular Data, then turn on Unlimited Updates.

I'm confused too, Gali, sorry. This reply has been meant for Foxfifth in a completely different discussion. I have been searching for my reply and could not find it again.

For some unknown reason, Apple has decided to turn on iCloud Photo Library by default every time you sign out of iCloud and then back in again, so 2500 or so of my photos, and a dozen or so of my albums uploaded, but that's all that is up there. (I've sent the Photos team feedback about this).

Yes, there is an abundance of posts by OPs who have been using iCloud Photo Library without knowing it. This default is ridiculous and dangerous. iCloud Photo Library should only be enabled, if the users are made aware of it and understand how it works.

And even worse is that "Optimize Storage" will be enabled by default on iOS devices. And this is deliberate. I could not believe it, when I saw it in the iPhone user guide.

http://help.apple.com/iphone/11/#/iph961b96c4d

Optimize your storage or keep all your photos and videos in full-resolution on iPhone. Optimize iPhone Storage is on by default. It manages space on your iPhone by automatically keeping your full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud and smaller versions optimized for iPhone, as needed. To keep the full-resolution originals on your iPhone, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos, then select Download and Keep Originals. Your originals are always stored in iCloud.

Without alerting us, Photos may be removing gigabytes of data from our iPhone and we may not be able to restore them for a long time, if we are away from a decent Wi-Fi or do not want to pay roaming fees while traveling.

My reply was to Larry, electroach. The support document quoted in his post seems to apply only to the iOs devices (iPad, iPhone) and is omitting, that it requires to enable "unlimited updates", which is off by default.

I am puzzled, because none of Apple's support documents for iCloud Photo Library on a Mac mention at all the requirements for the internet access by iCloud Photo Library. I cannot find in any Help for Photos or iCloud Photo Library, if a Mac needs a certain type of network connection for iCloud Photo Library to be able to update.

Is you Mac connected to power, when you are using the HotSpot? The Mac will also stop updating iCloud, if the battery is low.

I have erectly the same issue. My MAC (with high sierra) is connected to internet through iPadPro cellular with unlimited data plan. But photo media library (or iCloud media library) is not syncing.

When i brining my mac home (once a week) and it is connected to wifi everything is syncing perfectly.

Our libraries seem to be very different, Gail. I'm still not sure if it are the deeply nested folders or the smart albums, that are causing the problem or the mixture of system versions. My iPad cannot be upgraded beyond iOS 9, but I stopped using it with iCloud Photo Library.

léonie wrote:

Our libraries seem to be very different, Gail. I'm still not sure if it are the deeply nested folders or the smart albums, that are causing the problem or the mixture of system versions. My iPad cannot be upgraded beyond iOS 9, but I stopped using it with iCloud Photo Library.

Hey léonie!

I'm confused about your post? I actually don't actively use iCloud Photo Library. For some unknown reason, Apple has decided to turn on iCloud Photo Library by default every time you sign out of iCloud and then back in again, so 2500 or so of my photos, and a dozen or so of my albums uploaded, but that's all that is up there. (I've sent the Photos team feedback about this).

Can you help me to understand what you were responding to above?

GB

I totally agree. I was really unhappy when I found that it had done this without my knowledge. I reported it to the Photos Feedback link, so hopefully they will get this fixed for the next update.

The worse part is that we oftentimes have people sign out of iCloud and back in again to fix other issues. Now if iCloud Photo Library starts turning on when we do that, they may end up with a bigger problem....

Thanks for clarifying that 🙂

GB

I have exactly the same problem. Photos app on High Sierra doesn't sync at all with iCloud, when I'm using Personal Hotspot from my iPhone (either via wi-fi or USB). This is extremely annoying limitation and arrogance by Apple to limit what internet connection I can use for syncing photos. I am not a small kid and I can make my own decisions on how I am using my internet connection. I have unlimited data plan on mobile and no need for any other internet at home. And what if I'm on the road and what to sync photos?

What would be very useful instead of these limitations was a way to trigger, see and control the syncing process in cases when I am concerned about data traffic (e.g. I need to conserve the bandwidth or I'm abroad or I need to conserve iPhone battery, but still want to use it as a hotspot). Really, more transparency in the syncing process would be very helpful.