Does Photo Stream back up my photos?

[applefan289]

I'm asking because iCloud is really all the backup I need. My contacts, emails, and my download history of music, apps, etc. (which I can always re-download) is all I need to back up. And some important documents that I can back up to iCloud.

My question is do these documents and photos that are stored in iCloud permanently stored? I know there's a 30 day limit with Photo Stream, but is there a place that I can permanently back up some photos?

I can really get by with just iCloud and no local backup if I can permanently store a few documents and photos here and there. That's all I need.

 

[PNutts]

Does Photo Stream back up my photos?

No, but it sounds like you understand Photo Stream in your post.

I know there's a 30 day limit with Photo Stream, but is there a place that I can permanently back up some photos?

You will probably get some difference of opinion here and someone may know more about this than I do.

If you copy your photos from Photo Stream into your iDevice and then back up that iDevice to iCloud, those photos are backed up. However, that means all your photos must be on your iDevice, and there is currently no selective backup. So if you have to restore you will lose the photos you don't have backed up. Not a good solution. I assume that will also be true if you have a photo app that treats photos as app data.

Hopefully someone will have a better solution for you. I know the iOS 5 dream is that computers are optional, but for this and videos, etc. I don't think we're quite there yet.

 

[applefan289]

No, but it sounds like you understand Photo Stream in your post.



You will probably get some difference of opinion here and someone may know more about this than I do.

If you copy your photos from Photo Stream into your iDevice and then back up that iDevice to iCloud, those photos are backed up. However, that means all your photos must be on your iDevice, and there is currently no selective backup. So if you have to restore you will lose the photos you don't have backed up. Not a good solution. I assume that will also be true if you have a photo app that treats photos as app data.

Hopefully someone will have a better solution for you. I know the iOS 5 dream is that computers are optional, but for this and videos, etc. I don't think we're quite there yet.

Thanks. Yeah I'm just trying to avoid having to get an external storage device for some photos/videos and some important documents.

 

[shandyman]

You will probably get some difference of opinion here and someone may know more about this than I do.

If you copy your photos from Photo Stream into your iDevice and then back up that iDevice to iCloud, those photos are backed up. However, that means all your photos must be on your iDevice, and there is currently no selective backup. So if you have to restore you will lose the photos you don't have backed up. Not a good solution. I assume that will also be true if you have a photo app that treats photos as app data.

Hopefully someone will have a better solution for you. I know the iOS 5 dream is that computers are optional, but for this and videos, etc. I don't think we're quite there yet.

no, photo stream does not backup, the camera roll does, i think that's what you're thinking of. that's not an ideal backup idea really anyway.

Photo Stream is not permanent, but it can be if you have a mac/windows PC that has the relevant software running on it (IE iCloud Control Panel for windows). also Photo Stream only happens on wifi, so you could lose anything if you're not on wifi for a bit before something goes wrong.

If you want a more permanent backup for photos, i suggest Dropbox or maybe even Flickr.

 

[josielinnea]

Correct me if I'm wrong but this is the way I have it set up:
iPhone with iCloud and Photo Stream set up.
iMac with iPhoto set up to sync and download my photo stream from iCloud.

If I take a photo on my iPhone it will be added to my Photo Stream for 30 days. Within that period I can go into iPhoto on my iMac, and select photos from my photo stream that I want to save, and just add them to whatever other photo album in iPhoto. I have one called "iOS" for this purpose. My "iOS"-photo album is now saved on my computer and will remain even when 30 days has passed. I can also have this album be synced to iCloud which will mean the photos are available on my iPhone to view more than 30 days after being taken. This requires me to have enough space in iCloud for all my photos + other stuff. I will need to upgrade once my 5GB is up.

Correct?

 

[QuarterSwede]

Correct me if I'm wrong but this is the way I have it set up:
iPhone with iCloud and Photo Stream set up.
iMac with iPhoto set up to sync and download my photo stream from iCloud.

If I take a photo on my iPhone it will be added to my Photo Stream for 30 days. Within that period I can go into iPhoto on my iMac, and select photos from my photo stream that I want to save, and just add them to whatever other photo album in iPhoto. I have one called "iOS" for this purpose. My "iOS"-photo album is now saved on my computer and will remain even when 30 days has passed. I can also have this album be synced to iCloud which will mean the photos are available on my iPhone to view more than 30 days after being taken. This requires me to have enough space in iCloud for all my photos + other stuff. I will need to upgrade once my 5GB is up.

Correct?

The 5GB is for backups only. Anything else synced via iCloud isn't stored, it's just copied to the other devices.

 

[PNutts]

no, photo stream does not backup, the camera roll does, i think that's what you're thinking of. that's not an ideal backup idea really anyway.

Yes, that's what I said.

 

[shandyman]

Yes, that's what I said.

You never mentioned camera roll was where they need to be saved to or that camera roll is backed up. You were vague, I was filling in the gaps

 

[dnyren]

Just to be clear, let's keep it short & sweet;

• does iCloud backup photos?

I believe the answer is no but from this post I got the feeling there was some way to do this. If there is only a 30 day trial or something & then is cost money please tell me that b/c I don't mind spending a few dollars to speed up my phone by clearing up some space on my iPhone.

Thank you very much!