How does iCloud Photo Library and Optimize iPhone Storage Work?

Even Apple Phone support can't answer these questions:
How does iCloud Photo Library (Beta) from yesterday's 8.1 update with Optimize iPhone Storage turned on work? (I'm on an iPhone 6)
It only stores your iPhone/iPad versions on your device, which is amazing. Why would you need anything else? It freed up around 8-10GB of space on my device which is amazing. But how does it work when you use it?
When you email it seems to ask you, when sending what size you want to send like it's always done. It gives you the original 2.4MB version. This works like I'd imagine and when I received the test email the photo was correct. In this case I assume it hits iCloud and sends it from there, not your actual device. (Like it doesn't re-download it to email it). Correct?
When posting to Facebook, does it do this same thing? Or is this something Facebook has to build into their iOS app in an update? Or does it just work? Correct?
When posting to Instagram, does it grab the right version. Obviously the phone optimized version should be fine, but when viewing on a Desktop version of Instagram at instagram.com, will it show the right version?
Sometimes I backup photos using Image Capture on the Mac. If I did that right now, would it only grab the iPhone versions? Obviously I can just test it but it'd be amazing if someone who knows these things could explain all of these use cases.
Do you need to be on
In closing it's more of how does this work? Does it work? Why wouldn't you want to use this feature if it saved space and made more sense? I guess I just would love some real clarity since not even the blogs are explaining how it works in every application.
In closing part 2. It does seem to work really well, it's just those fringe cases. I just viewed all my photos on https://beta.icloud.com/#photos and they're all there, easy download of the high res, delete, it deletes from my camera roll on my phone, it's amazing, it works, it's magic. Just tell me what issues there are with storing only low res iPhone on my device and if there are none, game on!
Thanks!

santiagofrommiami wrote:
And of those 4.3GB of backup, my Photo Library is 1.4GB.
So my question is, how do I prevent my Photo Library from being backed up to the cloud, since I already have a backup of it everytime I connect to iPhoto and it copies all those photos to my mac?
I don't know, sorry. It's supposed to work alongside Photos & iCloud, so that photos are stored only once. When it doesn't work you have a couple of options as I see it –
Delete the old backups on iCloud to hopefully start over (I don't like deleting the only backup of anything).
Forget about iCloud backups & use iTunes to backup instead, it might not be suitable if you have no computer etc.
Buy more storage for iCloud.
I don't use iCloud backup, it bemuses me with issues like this, there is no easy way to resolve when it fails.
And one more question while we are at it...can I erase iphoto from my computer now that I have the new Photos app?
That is up to you. If you are happy you do not need it & have a backup of it go ahead & remove it. You can re-download it from the app store if it is already in your Mac App store account.

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"iCloud Photo Sharing" and "Optimize iPhone Storage"

Before updating to iOS 8, my wife and I shared the same iCloud account. It was convenient for us to use the same Photostream, so pictures of our kids where always gathered together. But iOS 8 has too many features that make sharing same account troublesome, so we have finally split up (digitally...)
Our question is, if we share albums, will our iPhones also treat the pictures and videos in those albums the same way when it comes to Optimize iPhone Storage as those in camera roll? We have 10000+ pics and videos, so being able to stream those from iCloud instead of local storage would be fantastic...
If that's the case, is there a time or storage limit for how many items we can have as shared? Apple hasn't explained those terms very well, understandable, since these features are still in beta. I would be very grateful if someone out there has more insight on this.

I don't see a way to identify the new photos being added to smart album since I shared it last. iTunes' smart playlist allows you to do this easily. But don;t see a way to do it iPhoto.
It is not well supported. You would have to mark the photos you already published in some way, for example add them to a regular album or add a keyword, after you published the photos.
When you add new photos to the smart album, you can add a rule "and has not keyword 'publish'" to find only the new photos that need publishing.

How does iCloud Photo Library backup photos & save iCloud space

I was reading about how to free up some space on my iCloud account (5GB).
Since the Camera Roll is the only thing that is backed up to iCloud, I would periodically import all my photos to iPhoto and delete them from my device. This would make the Camera Roll pictures move over to my other albums which are NOT backed up to iCloud. Now I ran into some apple documentation which explains what exactly gets backed up on an iOS device and its reads like this:
Photos and videos on your iOS devices, unless you turn on iCloud Photo Library beta on your iOS 8.1 device. If you turn on iCloud Photo Library beta, your photos and videos are already stored in iCloud, so they aren’t included in your iCloud Backup.
So basically if I turn on this iCloud Photo Library on my iOS device, it won't back up any photos to iCloud, because they are already stored in iCloud? What does that mean? Is this going to free up some iCloud space if I turn it on on my device? If so, how exactly does it work that will save me space?
Thanks

santiagofrommiami wrote:
And of those 4.3GB of backup, my Photo Library is 1.4GB.
So my question is, how do I prevent my Photo Library from being backed up to the cloud, since I already have a backup of it everytime I connect to iPhoto and it copies all those photos to my mac?
I don't know, sorry. It's supposed to work alongside Photos & iCloud, so that photos are stored only once. When it doesn't work you have a couple of options as I see it –
Delete the old backups on iCloud to hopefully start over (I don't like deleting the only backup of anything).
Forget about iCloud backups & use iTunes to backup instead, it might not be suitable if you have no computer etc.
Buy more storage for iCloud.
I don't use iCloud backup, it bemuses me with issues like this, there is no easy way to resolve when it fails.
And one more question while we are at it...can I erase iphoto from my computer now that I have the new Photos app?
That is up to you. If you are happy you do not need it & have a backup of it go ahead & remove it. You can re-download it from the app store if it is already in your Mac App store account.

ICloud Photo Library and Family Sharing

Does anyone know how the iCloud Photo Library and Family Sharing accounts interact? I'd rather not have to specify what to share with the rest of the family if I don't have to.

Each family member has their own Apple ID, but uses the main one for purchases. It seems to make sense that each AppleID could have its own Photos library, but I can't find anything in the support area that says this to be the case definitively. I want each family member to have their own Photos library that syncs between their iPhone and their ID. I hope that's how it works.

ICloud Photo Library and iPhone Storage

How can I delete just the locally stored photos/videos on my iPhone? I am using iCloud Photo Library and just imported thousands of pics into Photos for Mac. Now, my iPhone can "see" my entire photos library, but I have 18GB of 'Photos' locally stored on the phone. I would like to be able to delete the locally stored pics but when I try to delete any image (whether I know it's one that is locally stored or know it is one that is in iCloud), it says, "This photo will be deleted from iCloud Photo Library on all of your devices." I do not want to delete it from iCloud, only my iPhone. Thanks in advance!

yeah, I don't think they are allowing you to do this. You can only optimize the locally stored photos, and if the phone fills up with those, it will then dump some from your phone but keep them in the cloud. Like you, I was hoping that once you store a photo in iCloud, you could remove the local copy of the photo. and worse, if you do start deleting photos from your phone, it sounds like they automatically get deleted off of the cloud, after 30 days that is. Doesn't make sense to me. Finally, on your mac, if you have more photos than you have iCloud photo storage, it just stops syncing, rather than just storing your most recent pics?!?

Is there a way to prevent pictures/video from uploading to iCloud photo library from my iPhone and just have pictures/video from my Macbook in Photos upload to iCloud Photo Library?

I would like just my imported photos and video in the Photos App to be synced to my iCloud Photo Library, and not the photos and video from my iPhone. Is there a way to do this?

You can either sync them back to your iPhone is you have them saved on a computer, or you can restore from a backup if you have one. Those would be about your only options. iOS: Back up and restore your iOS device with iCloud or iTunes

Difference between iCloud Photo Library and Upload to My Photo Stream?

What is the difference between the iCloud Photo Library and the Upload to My Photo Stream options in the iCloud settings on my iPhone / iPad? Is it that uploading to the iCloud Photo Library uploads the images to iCloud (for viewing via browser) and using the Photo Stream only syncs the images between iOS devices?
I've had an iPad for awhile but I just got my first iPhone and I'm trying to understand the sync behavior. It seems that with both options enabled (iCloud and Photo Stream), every single image, screenshot, picture downloaded from Twitter, etc is all getting lumped together in the All Photos album and then synced everywhere. I absolutely do not want this. Can I have just a Camera Roll folder that syncs between devices, and then downloads / screenshots / etc stay local to the device without syncing?
I'm coming from Windows Phone, which worked exactly how I just described. Pictures taken with the phone went to the Camera Roll and the Camera Roll synced to OneDrive, and then images downloaded via other apps, or screenshots, went to separate albums that did not sync (unless I configured those albums to sync). This way everything was logically separated, easy to find, and I had complete control over the syncing behavior. This is what I'm trying to replicate on my iPhone.
Oh, is it true that every image *has* to be in the All Photos albums? There's no way to move screenshots and downloads to separate albums so they don't get cluttered with pictures I take? Or can I enable a separate Camera Roll folder?
Jason

I realize no one is twisting my arm to use anything. But that doesn't stop me from being disappointed about iOS's photo management capabilities compared to what I was used to in Windows Phone.
I already have unlimited OneDrive storage per my Office 365 account so that's not an issue. I just assumed that iCloud would be a more elegant photo syncing solution since it's built into the OS so that was the path I wanted to pursue. However now that I have a better understanding of the iCloud solution, it's clear that I'll stick with the OneDrive app for iOS to automatically back up my photos there instead of iCloud.
Not trying to be snarky and I do appreciate the info and links provided - those definitely helped.
Jason

ICloud Photo Library and iPhoto/Time Capsule

Ok, so I'm thinking about getting a Time Capsule. I use iCloud Photo Library and also use iPhoto to sync my photos to my Macbook. I have the storage optimizer turned on in iCloud Photo Library.
That being said, let's say that I sync my iPhone to my Macbook and import my photos into iPhoto. Presumably, this is only going to import the photos in the storage-optimized resolution, correct? My goal here is to have my full-resolution photos backed up both to iCloud as well as iPhoto/Time Capsule. Is there any way to do that other than to turn off the size optimization? The big problem problem I see with that is that when my phone gets full and I have to clear off the photos, this clears them from iCloud as well and I'm left with only the Time Capsule backup.
Am I wrong or have they kind of made these two products somewhat incompatible? Is this something that's going to be addressed with the new Photos app for OSX, where you can download the original resolution files from iCloud into Photos and then back up?

Yes, the photos will still stream from My Photo Stream to iPhoto on your Mac, even with iCloud Photo Library Beta enabled. Like before, the camera.app needs to be closed and the device connected to Wi-Fi, and properly charged.
You can see the photos also using the iCloud home page from the Photos.app Beta at iCloud.com .

ICloud photo library and iPhone/iPad storage space

Hi,
I use iCloud photo library beta for some time and it's a great feature for apple product. However, I'm a bit worried about what happend after some time. Now I have 20Gb of storage in iCLoud and 16Gb iPhone 6 and iPad air 2. On both of them is the "optimize iPhone/iPad storage" checked. What will happen after I would put 20Gb of photos to the iCloud and the iPhone and iPad wouldn't have enough storage to handle them (even when the photos are optimize)?
Thanks for any response or a link where it is discussed,
Jakub

Hi jakudo,
"optimize iPad/iPhone storage" means that photos don't have to take any storage capacity of your devices, if you are using your devices storage capacity e.g. for other content like music, apps etc. Your photos will be stored in the cloud and only a some of them are stored locally as long as you have storage space available. The only thing you have to do, is upgrading for more storage as soon as your passing the 20 GB.
With kind regards,
David

How do I use the same iCloud Photo Library on multiple iPhones?

I want to be able to use iCloud photo library on all my i-Devices, with the same photo library. I can log in with the same iCloud account on all devices, but, then I can't get FindMyFriends to work, because each IOS device needs it's own iCloud account for FindMyFriends.
Suggestions?

it tells me it is already in use
You will need to contact the previous owner of the iPhone in order to change the Apple ID.

ICloud photo library and iCloud storage

How do I clear up my iCloud photo library because I uploaded all my photos to my Mac so they're safe and I deleted a lot from my phone because I had no use for them since they're on my computer but I still have like no storage on my iCloud. So is it best that I turn off I loud library to clear and then after 30 days turn it back on ?

yeah, I don't think they are allowing you to do this. You can only optimize the locally stored photos, and if the phone fills up with those, it will then dump some from your phone but keep them in the cloud. Like you, I was hoping that once you store a photo in iCloud, you could remove the local copy of the photo. and worse, if you do start deleting photos from your phone, it sounds like they automatically get deleted off of the cloud, after 30 days that is. Doesn't make sense to me. Finally, on your mac, if you have more photos than you have iCloud photo storage, it just stops syncing, rather than just storing your most recent pics?!?

Does iCloud photo Library just duplicates my iCloud photos Backup? or uses the same copy?

Hi,
So i want to enable both iCloud backup AND Photo Library. But, i was wondering, how will it be held?
After turning on the iCloud Photo Library, will the photos in the Backup get deleted? or it uses them and share them between the two services?
Or it just upload all the photos again and i'll have two copies of my photos in my iCloud?

Hi,
So i want to enable both iCloud backup AND Photo Library. But, i was wondering, how will it be held?
After turning on the iCloud Photo Library, will the photos in the Backup get deleted? or it uses them and share them between the two services?
Or it just upload all the photos again and i'll have two copies of my photos in my iCloud?

Does iCloud Photo Library syncronise ALBUMS across devices?

It is not clear whether the iCloud Photo Library synchronises ALBUMS across iOS devices. NOT just photos - the Photo Stream does that but I have several dozen albums on one iPad and I want the to be recreated on another iOS devices automatically.
Can anyone actually answer this question? It seems simple enough.
Here is what I want to happen after configuring the system:-
The existing albums on iPad A appear on iPad B automatically.
Changes to an album on either A or B are reflected on the other device.
A new album created on either device appears on the other device.
Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks
ELKAY

Ok. At last I have it. And as far as I can tell my problem can't be solved automatically
As far as I can tel. most existing Albums (which aren't in the iCloud) don't get re-created or synchronised. All albums on your iPad will be deleted (although oddly for me, there are three out of 70 that seem to have been kept).
Turning on iCloud Photo Library turns it on for all devices that have the same Apple ID, and that are on a compatible version of the iOS. Any new album that is created on any device that is part of the iCloud photo library will be synced to other devices.
My approach has been to disconnect one of my iPads from the network which has all my albums and I will work through one album at a time recreating it and adding the selected photos to the album.
Much remains unclear (such as what happens to edits made on a iPad) and for a company whose story is all about ease of use, this has been a very opaque and nerve-racking experience - strating with the hair-raising message when you turn it on about deleting photos from iTunes. Before getting into the iCloud 'dream' I backed up all my photos from all devices to DropBox and from there to a USD drive.
The Photo-stream is another problem - no proper explanation of anything from the vendor - who knows where the images actually reside, and when they will disappear!
My next move is to look at Picasa as an alternative to this half-baked Apple vision.
ELKAY

How is icloud photo library different from Photostream?

When we take a pic from the iphone, it automatically goes to photostream, but what is icloud photo library?Please explain!
Thank you.

iCloud Photo Library - Automatically upload and store your entire library in iCloud to access photos and videos from all of your devices.
My Photo Stream - Automatically upload new photos and send them to all your iCloud devices when connected to Wi-Fi.

I turned off iCloud Photo Library and switched it back on, and now it says my photos won't fit on my Mac.

I migrated my iPhoto Library to the new Photos app with no problem, and when it finished migrating, I switched on iCloud Photo Library, again with no problem. My entire photo library uploaded, and I chose to keep the originals stored on my Mac.
This all went according to plan, but I just switched iCloud Photo Library off, and then on again, and now it says that the "full-resolution photos and videos stored in iCloud will not fit on this Mac." This is can't be the case, because the full-resolution files are already on my mac, that's where they came from before I even uploaded them to the cloud. It seems like it's trying to download them all again, without recognizing that the same photos that are in the cloud, are already on my Mac.
Any advice on how I can solve this?

You may not really be connected to your WiFi network.
Your router may not have given your iPad a valid IP address. Go to Settings > Wifi > your network name and touch the ">" to the right to see the network details. If the IP address starts with 169 or is blank then your router didn't provide an IP address and you won't be able to access the Internet.
Sometimes the fix can be as simple as restarting your router (remove power for 30 seconds and restart). Next, reset network settings on your iPad (Settings > General > Reset > Reset network settings) and then attempt to connect. In other cases it might be necessary to update the router's firmware with the latest from the manufacturer's support web pages.

How does iCloud Photo Library and Optimize iPhone Storage Work?

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