iCloud drive to store photo library

[DevNull0]

I currently have a very messy system to store my photos where I have a backed up main archive and when I want to edit or work on part, I copy it to a mac, end up with a bunch of edits there which may or may not make it back into the main archive, and when I want to edit on another mac, I copy from the archive there. In the end, I get a lot of duplication, I lose files, and I have a tangled mess of files in my main archive, so it's almost impossible to find what I want later.

I hope iCloud drive can help me sort this out, but I have no idea if what I'm picturing is how iCloud works. I'd like copy my files directly from the cameras and have them stored locally on one Mac which I can easily edit, and also have those files backed up online. I then want to be able to edit the online copies from other macs without storing local copies, but have the edits synced back to the mac with the local copy. That way I will only ever have a single folder from each shoot with all edits in it no matter where or when the edits were done, the files will be safely backed up online, and I will have a local copy of everything kept up to date.

My photos come from 2 SLRs (shooting raw) and 2 iPhones, and I edit with Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop, so I don't think the Photos App will do anything for me.

Also, I spend much of my day with my only internet through cellular tether to my iPhone and I don't want to use this very limited cellular data to access iCloud, syncing should only ever happen at home on my fast unlimited broadband. Even though I spend a lot of time editing large photoshop files while connected through tether.

Is it possible to do all this with iCloud?

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[Stefan johansson]

To stop wasting Mobile data transfer,turn off " mobile data".

 

[DevNull0]

To stop wasting Mobile data transfer,turn off " mobile data".

Where is that option on my Mac?

 

[Stefan johansson]

Where is that option on my Mac?

That option is only on mobile devices with SIM cards,not on your Mac.

 

[DevNull0]

That option is only on mobile devices with SIM cards,not on your Mac.

Then how does that help me when I have iCloud enabled on the Mac and the Mac connected to the internet via personal hotspot on the iPhone which is what I asked in my question? No where in my question did I even mention enabling iCloud on the iPhone, and I wouldn't enable it on the iPhone.

 

[Stefan johansson]

Then how does that help me when I have iCloud enabled on the Mac and the Mac connected to the internet via personal hotspot on the iPhone which is what I asked in my question? No where in my question did I even mention enabling iCloud on the iPhone, and I wouldn't enable it on the iPhone.

Ok,but IF you use the iPhone as hotspot for the Mac,there is no way to reduce the use of mobile data as long as the phone is connected to the internet. The only way is to connect through a wifi network. In your case,the computer,as it connects through phone,will consume mobile data.

 

[DevNull0]

Ok,but IF you use the iPhone as hotspot for the Mac,there is no way to reduce the use of mobile data as long as the phone is connected to the internet. The only way is to connect through a wifi network. In your case,the computer,as it connects through phone,will consume mobile data.

The Mac knows it's on a personal hotspot because the icon is different, but even being able to restrict which wifi network is allowed would help.

From what you're saying, it is impossible to use iCloud if you also use the personal hotspot. I can't be the only one this is an issue for. If I use iCloud and personal hotspot, as soon as the mac decides it's time to sync, it's going get me into $100's of overage charges in minutes at LTE speeds.

Also, a bit less of an issue for most people, but even encrypted I don't want all my most personal documents synced if I'm on a public wifi hotspot, and as common courtesy, you shouldn't sync it on public wifi and kill everyone's bandwidth. I find it hard to believe there's no way around that.

 

[Stefan johansson]

The Mac knows it's on a personal hotspot because the icon is different, but even being able to restrict which wifi network is allowed would help.

From what you're saying, it is impossible to use iCloud if you also use the personal hotspot. I can't be the only one this is an issue for. If I use iCloud and personal hotspot, as soon as the mac decides it's time to sync, it's going get me into $100's of overage charges in minutes at LTE speeds.

Also, a bit less of an issue for most people, but even encrypted I don't want all my most personal documents synced if I'm on a public wifi hotspot, and as common courtesy, you shouldn't sync it on public wifi and kill everyone's bandwidth. I find it hard to believe there's no way around that.

Its of course possible to use iCloud. I thought your problem was data consumption. If the hotspot is your phone,or a wifi network of any kind does not matter,everything will work,but when you use your phone,the data consumed will be billed to your phone.

 

[DevNull0]

Its of course possible to use iCloud. I thought your problem was data consumption. If the hotspot is your phone,or a wifi network of any kind does not matter,everything will work,but when you use your phone,the data consumed will be billed to your phone.

Exactly. So if I use iCloud then the second I connect my mac via personal hotspot, I get a multi-hundred-dollar phone bill. So iCloud is useless for people using personal hotspot.

 

[Stefan johansson]

Exactly. So if I use iCloud then the second I connect my mac via personal hotspot, I get a multi-hundred-dollar phone bill. So iCloud is useless for people using personal hotspot.

Every use of the internet through cellphone connection is billing your phone. iCloud is a cloud service,that store your data on an internet server. You should try an external disk drive with USB connection as your backup drive,if you don't want to pay for internet data.

 

[DevNull0]

Every use of the internet through cellphone connection is billing your phone. iCloud is a cloud service,that store your data on an internet server. You should try an external disk drive with USB connection as your backup drive,if you don't want to pay for internet data.

Well there's certainly not much to say to that logic. An Apple defect means it pulls down absurd amounts of data over cellular and you think it's business as usual.

Apple is smart enough to let you switch it off on their iToys, the fact that you can't on the mac is either a bad bug or defective by design.

Also, do you even understand that iCloud drive is a syncing tool, not a backup tool? Your usb drive suggestion is pretty pointless as a substitute, and quite frankly, I do use 2.5" SSDs through a sata-USB cable as a backup device.

iCloud is not meant to solve this problem...and Apple goes out of their way to break it as a backup service. No criticism of Apple there, it's not how they want their service used and that's their choice. But you don't seem to know what iCloud drive is and yet you want to offer advice.

 

[Stefan johansson]

Well there's certainly not much to say to that logic. An Apple defect means it pulls down absurd amounts of data over cellular and you think it's business as usual.

Apple is smart enough to let you switch it off on their iToys, the fact that you can't on the mac is either a bad bug or defective by design.

Also, do you even understand that iCloud drive is a syncing tool, not a backup tool? Your usb drive suggestion is pretty pointless as a substitute, and quite frankly, I do use 2.5" SSDs through a sata-USB cable as a backup device.

iCloud is not meant to solve this problem...and Apple goes out of their way to break it as a backup service. No criticism of Apple there, it's not how they want their service used and that's their choice. But you don't seem to know what iCloud drive is and yet you want to offer advice.

iCloud is a storage and syncing tool that use internet data. If you just want to sync photos from phone to computer,use either Bluetooth or a sync cable. And if you don't want to use mobile data from your Mac,turn off the internet connection. iCloud is very useful to me,as I can connect and access my stored files from everywhere,but of course that bills my phone. Downloading high res images from iCloud or iCloud Drive of course consume data,as one single photo file can be between 20 and 60 megabyte.

 

[johannnn]

Maybe TripMode is a good application for you. "TripMode automatically reduces your mobile data consumption when you use a mobile hotspot". Also available via SetApp.