All Devices Should I use iCloud Photo Library?

[Ultra AleM]

Hello! I am indecise if using iCloud Photo Library. Is it advisable? I don’t like some facts:
- Evwrytime I take a picture or video it gets synced. Isn’t this a stress for the phone and the battery?
- Photos are not encrypted anymore in the backup but can be accessed more easily via web.

what do you say? Thank you!

 

[devesh9]

It's better to use Google photos than iCloud. U can upload unlimited high resolution photos or limited original resolution photos to your drive limit.
The sync happens when u decide to sync. And also secured.

Also it saves money compared to iCloud drive limit of 5 GB to google photos limit.

 

[BBDDVV]

I can only recommend iCloud Photo Library:

• You can set the upload/sync to use WiFi only, no noticeable battery strain
• Photos and videos are stored encrypted, both during upload and while stored (support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303)
• The pictures/videos remain yours, you’re not allowing anyone else using them. This does come with a cost, but e.g. 2.99 euro for 200GB is a small price to pay (and can be shared with family members if you like)
• Face/object detection happens on-device (when charging), not in the cloud.
• Any edits are stored as well and can be changed/undone on any of the synced devices
• ...

 

[Steve121178]

Is it advisable?

Absolutely.

 

[Ultra AleM]

I can only recommend iCloud Photo Library:

• You can set the upload/sync to use WiFi only, no noticeable battery strain
• Photos and videos are stored encrypted, both during upload and while stored (support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303)
• The pictures/videos remain yours, you’re not allowing anyone else using them. This does come with a cost, but e.g. 2.99 euro for 200GB is a small price to pay (and can be shared with family members if you like)
• Face/object detection happens on-device (when charging), not in the cloud.
• Any edits are stored as well and can be changed/undone on any of the synced devices
• ...

Thanks for the reply. Do you recommend using the “optimize storage” option? Or is it better to have everything without loading?

 

[BBDDVV]

“optimize storage” option: that's up to you (well, up to the amount of free space you have on your device(s) ;-) ). You can always go back and forth if you want, and can use it on one device and not on the other.

 

[Ultra AleM]

“optimize storage” option: that's up to you (well, up to the amount of free space you have on your device(s) ;-) ). You can always go back and forth if you want, and can use it on one device and not on the other.

Thanks. So you think the continuous sync doesn’t drain battery? Because it uploads everything when you shoot

 

[BBDDVV]

Thanks. So you think the continuous sync doesn’t drain battery? Because it uploads everything when you shoot

I have mine set to not use cellular data for photos (have a limited amount, have to be conscious what to use it for), so it only uploads when I’m connected to WiFi. Not sure if it would otherwise use cellular data to upload... Also, when Low Power Mode is ON, even when connected to WiFi it will not upload (it mentions this at the bottom of the Photos tab in the Photos app (that’s als where it shows if there are photos/videos being uploaded)

 

[farfromovin]

This is the reason I can’t leave the Apple ecosystem. Apple Photos and iCloud sync is hands down the best way to do photos. You’ll never lose your photos. Plus, it’s the easiest to get high resolution photos back to your device when it’s replaced. I’m often without cell signal so I keep original photos on my phone.
There are alternative backup services but nothing works up and down with the cloud and across devices like Apple Photos with iCloud sync. I went for years jumping from latest Android flagship to flagship and over all that backing up, dragging and dropping, micro sd card copies, corruption, forgetting to copy a particular folder, etc... I had lost maybe 25% of my pictures despite taking lots of care and time to keep everything.
Point is, pictures are important and unless you are extremely vigilant, you will eventually lose them unless you have an iPhone with iCloud sync.

 

[achappy]

As others mentioned it's the best Photo option. Automatic syncing of photos/edits/changes across devices, object detection done on device but syncs across. Encrypted.

I would recommend having at least one device that downloads originals and make sure you back that device up. For me it's on my iMac which is backed up to a Time Machine drive.

 

[MEJHarrison]

Thanks for the reply. Do you recommend using the “optimize storage” option? Or is it better to have everything without loading?

I personally would not use optimize storage if I didn't need to. I would like to have the full photo already on all my devices. But I don't really have the space for that, so I do the Optimized Storage. My library is now around 130GB and with optimized storage, it takes about 6.3GB on my phone and tablet (my laptop and desktop have the full files). I'm constantly amazed how much smaller my library is on my phone while still retaining decent image quality.

So I say if you have the space, don't use optimized storage. But if space is important, then turn it on.

 

[Paco II]

It all comes down to your tolerance around privacy. There is no question in my mind that Google Photos is far better than Apple Photos when it comes to object detection and face detection. My SO uses Apple Photos and I get to see first hand how much better Google Photos is in that regard. Also, you have better control over what photos live on your device versus the cloud.

As others mentioned it's the best Photo option. Automatic syncing of photos/edits/changes across devices, object detection done on device but syncs across. Encrypted.

I would recommend having at least one device that downloads originals and make sure you back that device up. For me it's on my iMac which is backed up to a Time Machine drive.

 

[danny842003]

Personally I love it, I have multiple devices phone, iPad, Mac, 2x Apple TV’s, even my watch shows me photos in memories on the Siri face.
I now have well over 9000 photos in iCloud and Apple have me trapped, although I don’t think it’s a bad thing.

 

[Pipper99]

When you view a photo on your iPhone that's stored in iCloud (i.e., there's not a full resolution copy on your iPhone), how long does it take for the full resolution copy to download? Or, is the lower resolution copy good enough for viewing on the iPhone?

On Google Photos, there's a two or 3 second delay for the image to fully resolve on my device.

 

[IowaLynn]

It's better to use Google photos than iCloud. U can upload unlimited high resolution photos or limited original resolution photos to your drive limit.
The sync happens when u decide to sync. And also secured.

Also it saves money compared to iCloud drive limit of 5 GB to google photos limit.

I use both, so basically I have all my photos backed up and easily available. I choose to save original not optimized on Google Photos and use ~50GB The 100GB plan is $20/year. I use to sync Google Dive to my Mac but stopped.
OneDive is another option but not as smooth or easy I felt.
Just wouldn’t keep all my photos in one egg basket.

 

[stephenschimpf]

When you view a photo on your iPhone that's stored in iCloud (i.e., there's not a full resolution copy on your iPhone), how long does it take for the full resolution copy to download? Or, is the lower resolution copy good enough for viewing on the iPhone?

On Google Photos, there's a two or 3 second delay for the image to fully resolve on my device.

The full resolution photo can be stored on iCloud and on your phone as well. It's up to you. I choose to have optimized photos on my iPhone and iPad Pro, and full resolution photos on iCloud and my iMac. The optimized photos on the iPhone and iPad Pro are just that, optimized for those displays, not just "good enough." It's only when you edit or zoom in that the full resolution photos are downloaded from iCloud, and the delay depends on your connection speed. It can take a second, three or four, or even longer if you've got a poor connection.

 

[Pipper99]

The full resolution photo can be stored on iCloud and on your phone as well. It's up to you. I choose to have optimized photos on my iPhone and iPad Pro, and full resolution photos on iCloud and my iMac. The optimized photos on the iPhone and iPad Pro are just that, optimized for those displays, not just "good enough." It's only when you edit or zoom in that the full resolution photos are downloaded from iCloud, and the delay depends on your connection speed. It can take a second, three or four, or even longer if you've got a poor connection.

Thank you: I think I’ll just keep the full pics on my device in that case.

 

[jpn]

I personally would not use optimize storage if I didn't need to. I would like to have the full photo already on all my devices. But I don't really have the space for that, so I do the Optimized Storage. My library is now around 130GB and with optimized storage, it takes about 6.3GB on my phone and tablet (my laptop and desktop have the full files). I'm constantly amazed how much smaller my library is on my phone while still retaining decent image quality.

So I say if you have the space, don't use optimized storage. But if space is important, then turn it on.

this.
additionally: a different poster advised that you can switch between optimized and non-optimized.
presumably switching to non-optimized will force apple's servers to replace optimized versions with full resolution versions.
i don't have any first hand evidence but have wondered about this many times. since in the past (noticeably not iOS 13) the default was in fact to optimize photos. only discovered hours or days later then changing it to my preferred non-optimized.
with their being no overt way to force even synchronizing on the user's part, i wonder if "switching" is really good advice.

 

[FlyingDutch]

It's better to use Google photos than iCloud. U can upload unlimited high resolution photos or limited original resolution photos to your drive limit.
The sync happens when u decide to sync. And also secured.

Also it saves money compared to iCloud drive limit of 5 GB to google photos limit.

Secure and Google in the same sentence ?

Google is scanning your photos for advertising. Very bad advice in my opinion.

 

[devesh9]

Secure and Google in the same sentence ?

Google is scanning your photos for advertising. Very bad advice in my opinion.

Google and Apple both use your images for showing ads. And that too location wise. As far as my understanding iCloud uses varied cloud storage options like Amazon, Microsoft Azure and also google cloud storage. So nothing is secured even if you keep it only on iCloud.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/22/...loud-services-amazon-aws-30-million-per-month

 

[FlyingDutch]

Google and Apple both use your images for showing ads. And that too location wise. As far as my understanding iCloud uses varied cloud storage options like Amazon, Microsoft Azure and also google cloud storage. So nothing is secured even if you keep it only on iCloud.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/22/...loud-services-amazon-aws-30-million-per-month

Nope.
Apple isn’t profiling users.

The place where data are stored doesn’t mean anything.
What the company who is managing data is doing really matter.

 

[am2am]

Google and Apple both use your images for showing ads. And that too location wise. As far as my understanding iCloud uses varied cloud storage options like Amazon, Microsoft Azure and also google cloud storage. So nothing is secured even if you keep it only on iCloud.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/22/...loud-services-amazon-aws-30-million-per-month

iCloud stores encrypted photos (end-to-end encryption so only you can see them) - Apple cannot analyze them - that is why face detection has to be done on device and not in cloud. Pros & cons as usual. I prefer apple over google way.
As FlyingDutch mentioned data storage is irrelevant.

 

[hipnetic]

Jumping into this conversation...

I've been using both iCloud Photos and Google Photos. I just bought a new 2018 MBA w/512GB storage to replace my 2013 MBP w/256GB of storage. My MBP is close to its storage limit, though the "About my Mac" / Storage indicates that Photos seem to account for just about 10GB of that. Nevertheless, I'm still a little confused about how iCloud Photos works in regards to how much storage it will take up on my MacBook.

Right now, I've got iCloud Photos turned on for both my MBP and iPhone. On my MBP, my "About my Mac" / Storage gauge claims that Photos are only using up about 10GB of storage locally, and I believe that some (a lot?) of that is for photos I have locally that were not taken with my iPhone. Yet the iCloud settings storage gauge indicates that I have close to 40GB being used for photos. Can someone make sense of this for me? Is some part of my local 10GB Photos usage for locally stored/cached (?) photos that are also in iCloud, or is all of that for "other" photos that I happen to have stored locally on my MacBook?

Should I expect that my 40GB of iCloud Photos should also be taking up 40GB locally on my MacBook somewhere? If so, why does my "About my Mac" / Storage only indicate that I have 10GB worth of Photos?

I don't mind paying a bit for iCloud Storage (in addition to using Google Photos), but I also don't want the entirety of my photos to be "backed up" and stored redundantly on my MacBook. I'd prefer that they all just "stay in the cloud" and that I can pull down individual photos when needed.

Please educate me on where I'm confused. External links/articles are welcome, too.

 

[MEJHarrison]

Please educate me on where I'm confused. External links/articles are welcome, too.

It sounds like you have optimized storage setup. iCloud has the full photos, you Mac has optimized versions. Which seems to be what you're requesting. The only difference being that Optimized Photos still downloads your entire library. You can't have 100 photos in the cloud, but only 10 on your Mac. But they don't take up as much space as full version do.