Please allow “local-only photos” in Photos app while iCloud Photos is enabled

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I do have a folder in the Files app for photos that I do not sync to other devices. You don't even need to save them in iCloud and I have my folder in the "On my iPhone" location of the Files app. For me, iCloud Photos works perfect and I would never go back to Google Photos with the poor integration, but we can certainly use whatever service best meets our needs.

NicoSutter24 wrote:

Right now, if iCloud Photos is turned on, Finder/iTunes photo syncing is disabled. The Photos app becomes “all or nothing”: either everything is in iCloud, or nothing is. There’s no way to keep a local-only album or import older images from other devices/phones without them being forced into iCloud.

This creates two major problems for me:

Data control1. – I want certain photos on my iPhone for personal/local use only. iCloud Photos removes that option.

Migration issues1. – Old pictures from non-iPhones (Androids, Sony camera, etc.) cannot be added to my iPhone’s Photos app unless I disable iCloud Photos, which breaks syncing for my main library.

Data control — you can copy such photos into iCloud Drive to use on device only

migration issues — you can, of course, add such photos into your library to sync across devices. You need not disable iCloud Photos.

What makes this worse: I specifically bought a 500 GB iPhone so I could keep all of my older photos (from past phones and my Sony camera) directly on my device. But Apple’s current design forces me into a cloud subscription if I want them in the Photos app. That makes my investment in local storage pointless.

Because of this, I’ve moved my entire backup workflow to Google Photos / Google Cloud, even though I would prefer to stay within Apple’s ecosystem. Google lets me back up everything and• decide which files I keep locally on my device.

This isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a lock-in problem. Apple should respect user choice and let us:

Import and keep photos locally on device, even with iCloud Photos enabled.

• Mark certain albums as “local only,” not synced.

Until that flexibility exists, iCloud Photos simply doesn’t meet my needs, and I’m forced to use Google’s services instead.

use whatever you wish.