Optimise photo storage - how does it work?

[mrklaw]

i finally got around to updating my iCloud to put all my photos onto my iPhone/iPad. About 5,000 photos overall. I have 'optimise storage' turned on and still only using 30GB of my 64GB storage.

But how does it work? I realise it only ditches full res photos when it needs the space, but is there any way to calculate how much space is needed? Eg 100MB per 1000 optimised photos etc?

Secondly, how does that affect other apps? Eg let’s say I want to edit a photo in Snapseed or other 3rd party app. I select it from my photo collection - does iOS pull the full res version from iCloud and pass to the app, or does the app get the low res preview?

 

[Brookzy]

Thunbnails are apparently around 100-250KB, compared to full size versions which could be anything up to a few MB.

When other apps access it, the full-size original will be downloaded from iCloud.

 

[mrklaw]

Thunbnails are apparently around 100-250KB, compared to full size versions which could be anything up to a few MB.

When other apps access it, the full-size original will be downloaded from iCloud.

Awesome. so <1GB for 5,000 photos. Seems manageable.

 

[DNichter]

Turn it on, don't worry about it. I have found that if you just don't worry about storage space and use iCloud and settings available, iOS will handle the rest.

 

[joefrank64k]

FWIW: Something to keep in mind...I used to use Optimize Storage and ran into a snag when I was at a ski resort with no cell or wi-fi. I couldn’t open any of the thumbnailed photos, since they couldn’t be downloaded. Frustrating to say the least.

Because of that incident and also that I bike ride into areas with no cell service regularly, I’ve gone back to non-optimized storage. Same with Apple Music. I download all my playlists to my devices now.

I know this is an outlier use-case scenario, but thought I’d throw it out there.

 

[mrklaw]

Turn it on, don't worry about it. I have found that if you just don't worry about storage space and use iCloud and settings available, iOS will handle the rest.

Sure, I just wanted to check if my 64GB storage will be enough for my next phone - having just added 4000 photos Inwas a little wary

 

[DNichter]

Sure, I just wanted to check if my 64GB storage will be enough for my next phone - having just added 4000 photos Inwas a little wary

Yea you’ll be good. As long as you have at least the 50GB iCloud plan, you won’t need to worry about it. It’s $0.99 a month and has been enough for me. Only use about 20GB on my 7 Plus and have about 50 apps installed and a few movies.

 

[Knowimagination]

I've been running into nothing but issues with it, no matter what I try any video over a few days old just constantly spins and won't play unless I am connected to wifi. Need to look into if their is a download over LTE setting or something, but right now I can't wait for my 256GB iPhone X so I don't have to worry about this.

 

[DNichter]

I've been running into nothing but issues with it, no matter what I try any video over a few days old just constantly spins and won't play unless I am connected to wifi. Need to look into if their is a download over LTE setting or something, but right now I can't wait for my 256GB iPhone X so I don't have to worry about this.

Maybe turn everything off and then back on. I had an issue with it once. The peace of mind of the 256 will be great though.