One way iCloud from iPhone

Question

One way iCloud from iPhone

I really would like to use iCloud on my iPhone so that it would upload all photos and videos to the Cloud. But I DON'T want everything in Photos on my Mac to download to my iPhone.

As I understand iCloud, if I have it turned "on" on my phone, and have it turned "on" on my MacBook, everything goes to iCloud and then shows up on both of the devices. I have almost 8,000 pictures/videos on my laptop and I don't want them to all be on my phone - even in the smaller format. I just want all of my photos/videos on my phone to upload to iCloud and then to my MacBook. But I don't want everything in iCloud to show up on my phone.

I currently have iCloud turned off and PhotoStream on. But PhotoStream doesn't upload my videos, only the photos. And I take quite a few videos.

Is there some work around or script that would accomplish what I'm after? I can't be the only one that has way more on their laptop than they want on their phone ...

Help appreciated.

iPhone 6s, iOS 11.2.6

Posted on Mar 15, 2018 9:52 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 16, 2018 10:00 AM in response to Marcy Matties

Why do you have your Mac using iCloud Photo Library? If all of your Photos are on your Mac, and you have Photo Stream on so that your photos are continually uploading to the Mac, then the only thing you have to do is to occasionally hook up the phone to the Mac and import the videos: PHOTO IMPORT IOS TO MAC/PC

iCloud is a syncing/sharing service. It is not an archival service. Dropbox, Google Photos, Amazon Photos, Flikr, are all archival cloud services. So, if you are looking to archive your photos, you might want to look there.

Is your primary purpose for using iCloud Photo Library on your Phone to get your videos to your Mac? If so, then you really don't need iCloud Photo Library to do that. Importing is a much simpler way to go.

Cheers,

GB

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Answer 2

Mar 16, 2018 10:02 AM in response to ZaZo

ZaZo wrote:

We are all kind of in the same boat. I'm researching this now, and continue to find that iCloud is not a back up service it is a synching service.

A few years back I used DropBox, i may have to go back to that.

Apple wants us to use iCloud with the optimize storage on the devices setting selected, so seldom used items automatically free up space when needed and then the rest stays on the Cloud.

I "get" the strategy, but seems with little effort from Apple, we could have selectable synching enabled.

You have to understand the overall design of iCloud and all of its parts. It was never designed as a storage facility. From the get-go, when there was only iCloud for Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Notes, etc. it was a sharing/syncing service, and that is what it continues to be. This User Tip may clarify the approach: iCloud Deconstructed | Communities

Cheers,

GB

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Answer 3

Mar 16, 2018 10:23 AM in response to Marcy Matties

Marcy Matties wrote:

As for iCloud being a syncing/sharing service - in Apple's own words ... "iCloud securely stores your photos, videos, documents, music, apps, and more" That is followed by "- and keeps them updated across all of your devices" So the "securely stores your ....." sounds like it is also a backup mechanism.

Securely Store does not mean a backup. It means that the data is securely stored in a common Library that is protected from outside interference. You can make backups that go to iCloud, but those are iOS backups. There is no other "backup" mechanism in iCloud.

As the article I provided for ZaZo outlines, it is not a matter of what Apple can or can not do. It is a matter of intent of design. As of this point in time, iCloud is set up the way Apple intended for it to be set up, and the entire point of iCloud right now is to provide the same data to all of your devices signed into the same iCloud account: iCloud Deconstructed | Communities

There is no 3rd party service that can access the iCloud mechanism, so your best bet is to use a cloud service that was designed to do what you want. It does not appear that iCloud is that service.

You can send feedback to Apple here: Apple - Feedback

Cheers,

GB

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Answer 4

LACAllen

Level 8

43,410 points

Mar 16, 2018 5:57 PM in response to Marcy Matties

Some AppleScript or 3rd party fix?

There really is nothing to "fix" iCloud does what it says it does in the way it is designed.

Even if you saw "backup" in the marketing message, you also saw, "across all of your devices" The secure angle is in reference to iCloud/iOS/macOS' overall secure nature.

You need another product/service entirely.

Google's Photo/Cloud service, Dropbox and some other photo storage apps offer cloud only storage options.

To effect any change >>> Feedback for Apple goes here >>> http://apple.com/feedback

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Answer 5

ZaZo

Level 3

860 points

Mar 16, 2018 8:33 AM in response to Marcy Matties

We are all kind of in the same boat. I'm researching this now, and continue to find that iCloud is not a back up service it is a synching service.

A few years back I used DropBox, i may have to go back to that.

Apple wants us to use iCloud with the optimize storage on the devices setting selected, so seldom used items automatically free up space when needed and then the rest stays on the Cloud.

I "get" the strategy, but seems with little effort from Apple, we could have selectable synching enabled.

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Answer 6

Mar 16, 2018 10:16 AM in response to gail from maine

First of all, I do send my videos to my MacBook, mostly via Airdrop. I just think as ZaZo said above, it doesn't seem like it would be difficult to have a selective syncing option. I get why someone would want all of their contacts, calendars, certain documents, etc., synced across all devices. But I can't imagine that someone with a huge photo album would want that synced to their phone. That just doesn't make sense.

As for iCloud being a syncing/sharing service - in Apple's own words ... "iCloud securely stores your photos, videos, documents, music, apps, and more" That is followed by "- and keeps them updated across all of your devices" So the "securely stores your ....." sounds like it is also a backup mechanism. So yes, I get that the way it is setup doesn't allow what I want to do. And yes, I get that I can get those videos to my laptop with a little effort. I just think that as smart as Apple is they could come up with a solution that would automatically put those videos into Photos and that would keep from having my entire Photos collection on my iPhone. They obviously think that iCloud is at least a somewhat backup service or they wouldn't have options to "rent" mucho gigabytes of space each month.

So bottom line, my original question was really - has anyone found an outside solution for this? Some AppleScript or 3rd party fix?

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Answer 7

Mar 16, 2018 10:21 AM in response to gail from maine

As I replied above ... I don't see that it was never designed as a "storage facility" since in their own words Apple says ... "iCloud securely stores your photos, videos, documents, music, apps, and more" That sounds like a storage facility to me. And after the original 5GB limit, they rent you "storage space" each month if you need more.

I understand that the way it is currently set up doesn't allow for what I (and evidently many others) want to do. I'm just asking why not? Why can't they offer select syncing for those of us that want to use it that way. Kind of like Burger King - Have it Your Way... 😁

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One way iCloud from iPhone

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