Faces syncing on iCloud

[alisex747]

Hello,

I have iCloud photos activated on my 3 devices (MacBook Pro, Ipad Pro 2018 and iPhone XS) with around 18,000 photos and videos synchronized. Each device keeps and download originals.
I have around 50 recognized faces on my 3 devices with automatic syncing between the devices since iCloud photos is activated (although each device scans the photos in an independant way to find new allocations that I confirm or unconfirm manually).

I have a question : in case I buy a new iPhone, all photos will be downloaded from iCloud. Will it be the same for Faces ? Will the new iPhone screen entirely all the photos since they will be considered as "new" and therefore will potentially make new allocation that could be wrong ultimately ?

Thank you

 

[crawfish963]

Since the face recognition feature is inside of the photos app, it can be assumed that a new device will carry those faces over when you install from backup.

 

[kyussmondo]

I could be wrong, or Apple could have changed it, but I thought Faces was done at a device level and not synced with the cloud because of privacy reasons. Meaning if you get a new device then the face data maybe lost. However, it maybe included in iCloud backup data.

 

[chris4565]

I could be wrong, or Apple could have changed it, but I thought Faces was done at a device level and not synced with the cloud because of privacy reasons. Meaning if you get a new device then the face data maybe lost. However, it maybe included in iCloud backup data.

Since iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra faces sync across devices

 

[kyussmondo]

Since iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra faces sync across devices

This makes me happy. The amount of time I wasted going through faces on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac. #FirstWorldProblems

 

[TimFL1]

I think they aren't syncing the actual faces, they only sync your actions ("yes this is my friend", "no this is not my friend" or manually placed face-circles from macOS) and then use ML with your inputs to regenerate the faces album (which then comes in at the same result). Smart way to do it without having actual face models uploaded to the cloud.
That's why it usually takes a while until your faces show up after a fresh install or when new photos get synced to your other devices (cause they analyze the photos at different times depending on OS load I guess?).

 

[alisex747]

I think they aren't syncing the actual faces, they only sync your actions ("yes this is my friend", "no this is not my friend" or manually placed face-circles from macOS) and then use ML with your inputs to regenerate the faces album (which then comes in at the same result). Smart way to do it without having actual face models uploaded to the cloud.
That's why it usually takes a while until your faces show up after a fresh install or when new photos get synced to your other devices (cause they analyze the photos at different times depending on OS load I guess?).

yes indeed, only actions seem to be synced.