iCloud Photo Library larger than local storage

[Poob Bubes]

So what happens when the library grows so large that the iDevice's storage is consumed? Even with Optimized pictures, my 16GB iPad cuts it close. Plus there's no way to further reduce that footprint so if I need more storage I have to delete apps.

What happens when the OS X Photo app is released and I upload my 150GB worth of iPhoto library?

 

[SpicyWings]

iCloud Photo Library larger than local storage

Most apps are quite small (<20MB), so deleting them won't help. It's different for apps that store data and bloat up over time, e.g. Facebook or Twitter. You can periodically reclaim space by deleting and reinstalling these apps.

As for running out of iDevice disk space because there's more image data on iCloud, connect iDevice to computer, go to iTunes Photos page. Only select the photos you want to sync, not "all photos".

 

[thegrants82]

So what happens the library grows so large that the iDevice's storage is consumed? Even with Optimized pictures, my 16GB iPad cuts it close. Plus there's no way to further reduce that footprint so if I need more storage I have to delete apps.

What happens when the OS X Photo app is released and I upload my 150GB worth of iPhoto library?

This is exactly why I returned my 16 for a 64. Even the optimized versions pushed me past my limit.

 

[Poob Bubes]

Before enabling this feature, I could reduce the size by importing with iPhoto and then telling iPhoto to delete after the import. I would also use the Image Capture app to mass delete older photos I had already imported. When I do this now, my storage remains unchanged.

Maybe there will be a way to address this once the OS X Photos app launches. As it stands, it seems like a bothersome issue in its current state.

 

[reese2147]

So what happens the library grows so large that the iDevice's storage is consumed? Even with Optimized pictures, my 16GB iPad cuts it close. Plus there's no way to further reduce that footprint so if I need more storage I have to delete apps.

What happens when the OS X Photo app is released and I upload my 150GB worth of iPhoto library?

This is exactly why I do not use IPL. I've been preaching on these boards for months, IPL is a **syncing** service, not a storage service. Unless Apple provides some kind of selective sync option, IPL continues to be an expensive and unintuitive option for photos.

Do yourself a favor, save a lot of headache and invest in a true cloud storage to keep space freed up on your iDevices (OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc).

 

[hattonna928]

So what happens when the library grows so large that the iDevice's storage is consumed? Even with Optimized pictures, my 16GB iPad cuts it close. Plus there's no way to further reduce that footprint so if I need more storage I have to delete apps.

What happens when the OS X Photo app is released and I upload my 150GB worth of iPhoto library?

Technically, it should continue to optimize further when your storage space gets low, continually shrinking the size of photos.

Part of the storage problem is a glitch with iCloud photo library. When you first optimize, it shows up as optimized under usage on the device itself. And it acts like it's optimized when it downloads pictures for you to view them. But if you plug your device into your computer and look at the bar in iTunes that shows your storage, you will notice that photos are taking up the full size of the library.

My iPhone was at 1.8 GB pictures prior to iCloud photos, this is what shows up in iTunes no matter how many new photos I take (about 250 since I enabled it). I got an iPad though for christmas. When I enabled iCloud photo library it showed up on the device as optimized (about 300 MB), but there was a large portion of storage (another 2.6 GB) being used that wasn't listed. When I plugged into iTunes, it showed that pictures were taking up 2.9 GB of my iPad storage. No matter how many times I disable/enable iCloud photo library, it always does this. So you probably have way more storage than you think.

 

[matt2053]

Once your storage is full, iCloud Photo Library will start removing local copies of photos and keeping them stored only in iCloud. You will see the thumbnail only, with a small iCloud logo meaning it's stored in the cloud only. If you tap to open it, the full images is downloaded on demand from iCloud and older images are removed from local storage to make room.

 

[Poob Bubes]

Once your storage is full, iCloud Photo Library will start removing local copies of photos and keeping them stored only in iCloud. You will see the thumbnail only, with a small iCloud logo meaning it's stored in the cloud only. If you tap to open it, the full images is downloaded on demand from iCloud and older images are removed from local storage to make room.

The problem with this is that I use my iPad for more than just photos. So if my storage is full or close to full and I want to download a digital magazine for example, I am SOL unless I delete other apps.

 

[matt2053]

The problem with this is that I use my iPad for more than just photos. So if my storage is full or close to full and I want to download a digital magazine for example, I am SOL unless I delete other apps.

No, you aren't. My iPad says it's "Full" right now. But I can download a full 4 GB movie from iTunes right now and it just downloads, and iCloud Photo Library makes room for it.