Photostream missing (iOS 15.1.1, iPhone 13 Pro)

[stooovie]

My GF's iPhone 13 Pro is missing Photostream completely. iCloud Photos are turned off but the Photostream option is just not there. Rebooting the phone didn't fix it, nor did temporarily enabling/disabling iCloud Photos.

My iPhone 11 Pro does have Photostream, I don't have any issues.

Any tips? Thanks!

 

[stooovie]

So Apple Support is now giving me downright false information, saying I have to enable iCloud Photos in order to enable Photo Stream. That's just false, nor does their documentation say so. It works as expected on my devices, and does not work at all on my partner's iOS devices.

 

[cynics]

That is tech supports script, its actually accurate as well. If it not being updated for years wasn't a hint you can goto Apple.com support pages you'll find things like this....

My Photo Stream

With My Photo Stream, you can access recent photos that you took with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, or that you uploaded from your Mac or PC.

support.apple.com

About iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream

iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream can help you get your photos on your Apple devices and on your PC. What’s the difference between them? Learn more about both features.

support.apple.com

The same applies if you've haven't turned it on through several updates. For example, my iPhone 11 Pro Max does not have My Photo Stream. Nor do my Macs. I never used it now I don't have the option available anymore I guess (haven't looked too far into it)...

You are "grandfathered" into My PhotoStream.

The reason is, for the last year maybe two Apple has been moving everything over to iCloud Photos and phasing out My PhotoStream. Users with new AppleID for about 2 years haven't had the option for My Photostream. Its limitations that hinder camera capture tech and application of photo degradation are so blatant its embarrassing for Apple to advertise/market the service. No one is taking it away, its just no longer an option to new users...

The only benefit to My PhotoStream is it doesn't use your iCloud storage. But thats it...

Mac and PC will get the original quality but thats not really a benefit if the alternative, iCloud Photos does that across the board.

30 day 1000 photo limit with My PhotoStream.

Due to the lossy "optimized quality" when shared to other iOS device there is obvious photo quality degradation. On top of that if its a newer iPhone capturing in HEIC it will need to transcode to JPG which is lossy conversion plus results in inflated file size and/or potentially further reduction in quality (Apple tends to just use bigger files vs lowering quality). While its not a "data hog" its an inefficient use of data, storage space and processing power thus battery which could be considered a "hog".

So not only is it limited to JPG, TIFF, PNG and some RAW formats, none of which a new iPhone natively captures in without diving into settings (again requiring lossy conversion from HEIC) it also doesn't support live photos, portrait mode, and more importantly videos. Videos are a huge segment of Apples marketing campaign, Apple designs the Mac specifically around the requirements of video editing. (admittedly video capture not being in My PHOTOstream shouldn't be a surprise).

There is no sync function. So if you edit a photo other devices will have pre edited versions. This also means metadata used for Apple servers is stifled, like Faces or adding keywords to certain photos for easy search. Combine that with 30 day and 1000 photo limit results different devices having different photos. These are problems requiring your average consumer to navigate a convoluted process which ultimately can result in the loss of very valuable irreplaceable data (photos).

Not using your iCloud storage is the very least they could do with a service like that.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a personal attack on your preferences. I don't know the reason you use My PhotoStream and they could be very good and valid reasons. However its not going to be around forever and its not doing anyone any favors either. Think about it this way, Apple is focused on getting the best quality photo and video from very limited hardware (tiny lens and sensor on a handheld device) via machine learning and AI, then they have software (My PhotoStream) that will reduce its quality to provide a quasi automated syncing processes when they have a service that does this losslessly?

All that said, if your GF has an old iOS device she is logged into that has My PhotoStream still available she can turn it on, dump some photos into it and it might carry over to the Photo app on the new iPhone. I don't know if she'll get a toggle to use but its worth a shot if its really important to you and/or her.

Good luck!

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I don't have photo stream available either. iPhone X iOS15.1

 

[stooovie]

Thanks cynics but the Apple ID is more than two years old and Photo Stream IS available on her Macs. Just not on a 6th gen iPad and iPhone 13 Pro. Using iCloud Photos is not an option as we have a 400GB+ photo library AND I'm a heavy iCloud Drive user (and I just don't want nor need more space save for potentially iCloud Photos). We use Google Photos for photo storage, there are also Windows devices involved. I vastly prefer GP over IP.

Photo Stream is super convenient for snapping a photo and immediately having it on other devices. I'm aware of its limitations and it's fine.

What's infuriating is the arbitrary nature of its availability. They only say "recent Apple IDs" might not get it (how "recent" is that? The Apple ID in question is almost 4 years old). And also, as I said, it's available on SOME devices but not all, and some newer ones such as the M1 Air do have it when some older (iPad) do not. It seems completely random. I'd be also fine if they would just say "Photo Stream is being phased out, it may not be available on all your devices". The "recent Apple ID" thing is just false and confusing. It all looks like an user error, which it is obviously not.

Also, in no way does Photo Stream require iCloud Photos to be enabled. It doesn't say that in any documentation, and the way it actually works is that when IP is turned on, Photo Stream option is not available at all. It requires iCloud, not iCloud Photos. At least that's how it's working for me, on four devices, for a decade, and can be 100% reproduced anytime.

Thank you!

 

[alfon_sico]

Same problem here. I’m not using iCloud photo until 2 weeks ago. Till then I use photo stream with iPhone iPad or Mac and was useful for me

I turned on iCloud photos in iPhone and iPad (not in Mac due to big size of my principal library) but automatically photo stream disappeared.

I use to import SD photos from analogic camera and it was able to use it in my phone immediately but now it was erased.

I see that my mother has an old iPad mini 2 and has iCloud photos plus photos stream enabled at the same time but in iOS 15 the switch is missed when iCloud photos is enabled

 

[stooovie]

but in iOS 15 the switch is missed when iCloud photos is enabled

That's the expected behavior. My issue is that the Photo Stream switch is missing when iCloud Photos is DISABLED.

 

[alfon_sico]

Ok. If I turn off iCloud photos appear photo stream album although the photos are missed (cleaned)

 

[bassjunky]

I've used Photostream on my various Apple TVs for years, just as screensavers of the latest pics we've taken while music plays. One of their best features.

Recently, Photos on my 2011 iMac and 2019 MBP no longer automatically download the latest pics taken on my iPhone 13 (I did just switch from a X around the time it stopped working...coincidence? dunno).

I have never wanted to enable iCloud Photos, I have no desire to upload my entire library to iCloud. If I login to iCloud.com and go to Photos, all of the latest pics from the 13 (and X) are there for the last 30 days or so. The phone is uploading just fine. So why aren't they appearing automagically on either of my Macs?

I am pretty sure they're phasing out this feature. It still should be working with all of the ridiculous troubleshooting I have done (still could be missing something, but cannot get it working), but it's clear they want you all-in with iCloud Photos, or nothing.

 

[Gator5000e]

For me, Photo stream was eliminated after the last icloud for windows update. It just deleted the entire folder on my computer and the option for Photostream in the iCloud for windows was gone as well. All without any warning. Its also gone from my Apple TV 4K and iphone as well. Good thing I back up to Amazon Photos as well.

I guess they are trying to get folks to use iCloud Photos. Not sure why.