Other Disabling iCloud Photos when not enough space is available on iPhone

[wordsworth03]

Hello everyone,

I tried to search but couldn't find a solid answer so I apologize if this has been asked before. I'm looking to disable iCloud Photos on my iPhone because I'm running out of cloud space (and don't want to pay for more storage), but I also don't have enough space on my 128GB iPhone. Instead, I setup the Photos app on my Synology NAS to use as my "cloud" storage.

I guess my question is once I disable iCloud photo storage on my phone, will it automatically delete random photos for me since there is not enough space? I’d rather choose the photos I want to delete. My library goes back to 2012 so I’d rather delete 2012 to 2016 for example (in Apple‘s native photo app), then continue to keep the originals of 2016-current on my phone.

Here is ultimately what I would like to do:
1. Free up iCloud storage space by disabling iCloud Photos
2. Keep partial library of full res photos/videos on my native iPhone Photos app
3. Keep whole library of photos on the Mac Photos app (including having it upload new photos when syncing with iPhone via cable)

Is this doable under Apple's ecosystem?

Thanks!

 

[Shirasaki]

First thing that will happen after disabling iCloud photo Is, you have option to download your photo for 30 days. Then, if you choose optimised storage, those thumbnails stored locally are likely to be deleted. Never tried myself tho.

One thing that you need to also keep in mind is after disabling iCloud photo, you also need to turn off photo backup for iCloud backup if you use it.

Before disabling iCloud photo, I suggest you backup your photos library on your Mac to somewhere else first incase Apple decides to delete photos altogether after disabling iCloud photo because the system works strictly in synced mode.

 

[usmaak]

Not a direct answer, but if you are an Amazon Prime member, you get unlimited photo storage. I've been using it for many years. The Amazon Photos app automatically uploads new pictures. Just an idea for alternate storage.

 

[Shirasaki]

Not a direct answer, but if you are an Amazon Prime member, you get unlimited photo storage. I've been using it for many years. The Amazon Photos app automatically uploads new pictures. Just an idea for alternate storage.

Well, I bet, similar to google photo, Amazon down samples your original and upload them to the cloud. Correct me if I’m wrong though. And I’d not call it “alternate storage” Per se. To me OneDrive fits that description better.

 

[usmaak]

Well, I bet, similar to google photo, Amazon down samples your original and upload them to the cloud. Correct me if I’m wrong though. And I’d not call it “alternate storage” Per se. To me OneDrive fits that description better.

I don't know enough about photos to really say what they do. But if they do alter the photos to make them smaller then I can see that being a problem. I will have to check them out and see what they do. Interesting though. Thanks.

 

[wordsworth03]

First thing that will happen after disabling iCloud photo Is, you have option to download your photo for 30 days. Then, if you choose optimised storage, those thumbnails stored locally are likely to be deleted. Never tried myself tho.

One thing that you need to also keep in mind is after disabling iCloud photo, you also need to turn off photo backup for iCloud backup if you use it.

Before disabling iCloud photo, I suggest you backup your photos library on your Mac to somewhere else first incase Apple decides to delete photos altogether after disabling iCloud photo because the system works strictly in synced mode.

Thank you. I’ve already made backups of the photos database file on my NAS as well as a separate external HDD so I got that covered. I guess I’ll just have to disable it and see what it does. I’m not sure why I’m nervous about it since I have several backups!