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iCloud Photo Library vs Photo Stream

Apple really does need to do better than 5GB free. I cant see any benefit in filling that minimal space with photographs when I need it for other things like documents. I know they want us to buy more space but when there are so many freely available options... nope, not for me. I'll be leaving it disabled.
 
iCloud photos on iMac

So, I'm assuming that, even if you enable iCloud photos on the iPhone/iPad, there is still no way to view them on the mac until the new photos app is released early next year. With photo stream enabled, my photos automatically import to iPhoto on my mac. I can find no way of doing this using iCloud photos. I would have to manually sync the phone to iPhoto. Or is there something I'm missing?
 
Quick question folks - when iCloud Photo Library is enabled, and you plug your iPhone onto your PC, do you still see the photos available using the file browser? Or is that option disabled?
 
Mal P said:
Quick question folks - when iCloud Photo Library is enabled, and you plug your iPhone onto your PC, do you still see the photos available using the file browser? Or is that option disabled?
Click to expand...

Still available just like before.
 
Thanks profets. Is it only the photos you've taken with that specific device that appears via the USB connection? I assume photos synched from other devices won't appear here the way Photo Stream photos aren't accessible via USB.

If so, how do you manage storage if the originals are still retained on the device? Surely there must be a way to "cull" the original high-res images and to leave the lower-res format?
 
I have a couple of questions as we'll.

1- With iCloud photo library on, how do I get any new photos into iPhoto? I used to let photo stream import them as it was opened.

2- If I turn iCloud photo library off and revert back to photo stream, what happens?

I ask because I am using beta 2 on my 5S and DP2 of Yosemite on my MacBook but my iPad Air is using iOS 7.
 
I'm not sure why 5gigs free is unfair. That is on par with most other cloud services. Also, I have ~1400 photos stored on dropbox and that takes up less than 2 gigs. I know many people have far more photos than me, but increasing the iCloud storage inexpensive.
 
Mal P said:
Thanks profets. Is it only the photos you've taken with that specific device that appears via the USB connection? I assume photos synched from other devices won't appear here the way Photo Stream photos aren't accessible via USB.
Click to expand...

That's correct. Only the photos and videos you've recorded show on the connected device as available to be imported.

If so, how do you manage storage if the originals are still retained on the device? Surely there must be a way to "cull" the original high-res images and to leave the lower-res format?
Click to expand...

I feel that going forward if using iCloud Photo Library that one won't need to manage storage. I'm not sure when exactly it happens, but at one point (maybe after passing a specific threshold) that photos stored on the device will be replaced with thumbnails and lower res formats to save space, keeping the originals in iCloud. Getting a new Photos app on the Mac will probably be the last piece of this puzzle.

AbSoluTc said:
I have a couple of questions as we'll.

1- With iCloud photo library on, how do I get any new photos into iPhoto? I used to let photo stream import them as it was opened.

2- If I turn iCloud photo library off and revert back to photo stream, what happens?

I ask because I am using beta 2 on my 5S and DP2 of Yosemite on my MacBook but my iPad Air is using iOS 7.
Click to expand...

You'll probably have to import them manually from the phone. I think going forward they'll eliminate the need for iPhoto. No manual importing and no photo stream importing. Just one large library synced live and available everywhere.

No clue what would happen if you try turning off iCloud Photo library..
 
profets said:
I feel that going forward if using iCloud Photo Library that one won't need to manage storage. I'm not sure when exactly it happens, but at one point (maybe after passing a specific threshold) that photos stored on the device will be replaced with thumbnails and lower res formats to save space, keeping the originals in iCloud.
Click to expand...
Seems close to how it works...

After you take a photo, it starts out full-res on your device and is pushed to iCPL. After some time, the full-res image on your device is removed and you only have a thumbnail. When you click on the thumbnail, a low-res version is automatically downloaded back to your device. You can see a little icon as it is downloaded.

Process is the same with videos except that once they are removed from device, they don't download automatically from iCPL, they just stream from there. There is an option to download to device but luckily for that's not the default.

Once you have the low-res image back on your device, if you click to edit it, then the full-res copy is downloaded to your device.

One current limitation is that 3rd party apps can't deal with thumbnail or low-res versions since the apps can't yet use iOS 8 APIs. If you try to open one, the app can't pull it down and you get either an error measage or the app will crash. The workaround is to first actually edit the photo in the native Photos app so that the full-res version gets downloaded, and is available to edit with other apps.
 
Last edited:
Nolander07 said:
I'm not sure why 5gigs free is unfair. That is on par with most other cloud services. Also, I have ~1400 photos stored on dropbox and that takes up less than 2 gigs. I know many people have far more photos than me, but increasing the iCloud storage inexpensive.
Click to expand...

Google and OneDrive has 15 gigs. Flickr is 1 terabyte. Amazon is unlimited.
 
So here's a question: if the high resolution photos are on iCloud, how do we access them when we need high resolution?
 
Nolander07 said:
I'm not sure why 5gigs free is unfair. That is on par with most other cloud services. Also, I have ~1400 photos stored on dropbox and that takes up less than 2 gigs. I know many people have far more photos than me, but increasing the iCloud storage inexpensive.
Click to expand...

It can be argued that for the premiums Apple is charging on their iPhones, they can really do better and offer better deals. One suggestion is that while the next iphone6 may cost $100 more, Apple can give the impression of better value for money by bumping the storage up one level (starting at 32gb, than 64 and 128gb) and offering free iCloud backup for your iOS devices.

So you buy a 128gb iPhone, you get free automatic iCloud backup every night when it is plugged in and charging. No questions asked, no need to manually manage what gets backed up and what does, it all "just works". :)
 
BTW I'm getting a 10:1 savings having my photos stored on iCloud Photo Library over storing them all on my phone.

4,000+ photos take up less than 1.6 GB now! That's freakin' awesome. That was taking up 16 GB before.

It's not like I really need every old photo but when I do need a specific one, I have access to pull it down automatically. That's pretty amazing.

There were many times before when my iPhone was completely full and I couldn't even install an software update without freeing up space by removing loads of photos. Now my iPhone is only half full.
 
I hope there is a way to pull in all the hi-res images into iPhoto after iOS 8 is released. I don't want my hi-res photos only in the cloud.
 
Question: I am currently subscribed to a number of shared photo streams. What happens if I switch to iCloud drive? Will my contacts still be able to share their photo streams with me? (some of them have old devices and will remain on iOS 7) Will I be able to comment on shared photos, or share photos in my own shared streams?
 
Stuke00 said:
iCloud photo library = 1 seamless library.
My Photo Stream = 2 libraries. Your camera roll and the My Photo stream.
Click to expand...

iCloud photo library = 1 seamless library.
Uses your iCloud (mail/backup/app) storage space because not enough people were buying up additional storage, and Apple needed to monetize this better

My Photo Stream = 2 libraries. Your camera roll and the My Photo stream.
Free, 100photo, rolling 30day window

----------
mfalcao said:
Question: I am currently subscribed to a number of shared photo streams. What happens if I switch to iCloud drive? Will my contacts still be able to share their photo streams with me? (some of them have old devices and will remain on iOS 7) Will I be able to comment on shared photos, or share photos in my own shared streams?
Click to expand...

shared photostreams remain, untouched
 
The big question I have is... If we move to iCloud photo library...

How do we keep our OWN backup of ALL our photos?

I sure as hell am not going to trust Apple to keep my data, especially my *most precious* data, safe.

I'm rather pissed off at the company right now for not outlining how all this will work. I understand the need for secrecy in some contexts, but this is ridiculous.
 
Menel said:
iCloud photo library = 1 seamless library.
Uses your iCloud (mail/backup/app) storage space because not enough people were buying up additional storage, and Apple needed to monetize this better

My Photo Stream = 2 libraries. Your camera roll and the My Photo stream.
Free, 100photo, rolling 30day window

----------



shared photostreams remain, untouched
Click to expand...

yes things have changed in the betas since I made that post :p
 
zorinlynx said:
The big question I have is... If we move to iCloud photo library...

How do we keep our OWN backup of ALL our photos?

I sure as hell am not going to trust Apple to keep my data, especially my *most precious* data, safe.

I'm rather pissed off at the company right now for not outlining how all this will work. I understand the need for secrecy in some contexts, but this is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

I've noticed in iOS 8 there is a toggle that allows you to store full res versions of all photos and videos locally on your iPhone/iPad. Sounds like the same option will be available for Mac as well. If that is the case, then backing up an iOS device or Mac should also allow us to backup all photos & videos.
 
"One seamless library" sounds cool but at the moment I've got iCloud photo library turned on on both my iPhone and iPad... but I see different photos on each? Some are the same but others are only on one device and not the other. For example the photo I took an hour ago on my phone is yet to appear on my iPad. Strange.
 
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