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User profile for user: hill4ever
hill4ever Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

iCloud

So I purchased the $9.99 a month deal for iCloud because I wanted to transfer all my pictures from an old iPhone, my current iPhone, and my MacBook Air. I thought the idea of the iCloud was to store all photos so it frees up space on all devices. Am I wrong? Does one device have to hold all the photos? So I downloaded my most of my photos (I couldn't get all of them from my old iPhone) to my laptop and now it's saying I don't have enough memory to update my software! Ugh. I tried to troubleshoot but I keep getting stuck. When I go to store in iCloud (same window as Optimize Storage) I click on Store in iCloud, once I click it it gives me the option to click on photos, so I click it and get "Your password is required to enable iCloud Photo Library" so I click "OK" but it doesn't give me an area to enter my password. I thought I was already signed in to begin with!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jun 18, 2020 6:14 PM

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User profile for user: Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
User level: Level 10
122,549 points

Posted on Jun 19, 2020 4:46 AM

Welcome to the Apple Community.


I thought the idea of the iCloud was to store all photos so it frees up space on all devices. Am I wrong?

No, but...


The purpose of iCloud is to keep the same photos accessible from every device. If you want to save space, you do this by making the photos on your device an optimised version (i.e take up very little room) and not by completely deleting them (If you do this they'll get deleted everywhere).


With iCloud Photo Library enabled, you cannot delete a photo on one device (or at iCloud.com) without deleting it from every device that uses iCloud photo library (and iCloud.com). In order to save space on your mobile devices (and indeed your Mac if you wish to do so) turn on optimisation for photos on these devices (settings > photos & camera > optimise storage on your mobile device and Photo preferences > optimise storage on your Mac)


Optimisation is dynamic, it reduces the resolution of your photos as and when needed, so you may not notice it occurring at first. However, when it is needed, it is very effective and users have reported libraries being optimised to much less than 10% of their original size in some cases. My own library is about 9% of its original size on my phone.


In most cases optimising your photos should be enough to alleviate space related issues on your device. If however, you have an exceptionally large library you may need to turn off iCloud photo library on your mobile device and use photo stream instead. You can then use a computer to handle photo stream photos and have them automatically imported into your iCloud photo library. If you don’t have a computer, you can still access photo stream from other devices that don’t use iCloud Photo Library and import the photos directly to that device.




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User profile for user: Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
User level: Level 10
122,549 points

Jun 19, 2020 4:46 AM in response to hill4ever

Welcome to the Apple Community.


I thought the idea of the iCloud was to store all photos so it frees up space on all devices. Am I wrong?

No, but...


The purpose of iCloud is to keep the same photos accessible from every device. If you want to save space, you do this by making the photos on your device an optimised version (i.e take up very little room) and not by completely deleting them (If you do this they'll get deleted everywhere).


With iCloud Photo Library enabled, you cannot delete a photo on one device (or at iCloud.com) without deleting it from every device that uses iCloud photo library (and iCloud.com). In order to save space on your mobile devices (and indeed your Mac if you wish to do so) turn on optimisation for photos on these devices (settings > photos & camera > optimise storage on your mobile device and Photo preferences > optimise storage on your Mac)


Optimisation is dynamic, it reduces the resolution of your photos as and when needed, so you may not notice it occurring at first. However, when it is needed, it is very effective and users have reported libraries being optimised to much less than 10% of their original size in some cases. My own library is about 9% of its original size on my phone.


In most cases optimising your photos should be enough to alleviate space related issues on your device. If however, you have an exceptionally large library you may need to turn off iCloud photo library on your mobile device and use photo stream instead. You can then use a computer to handle photo stream photos and have them automatically imported into your iCloud photo library. If you don’t have a computer, you can still access photo stream from other devices that don’t use iCloud Photo Library and import the photos directly to that device.




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