ICloud Photo Library (beta) - how does it work?

8.0.2 has an option to enable iCloud Photo Library (beta), I am trying to understand how it works before I turn it on...
The description says it will auto-upload the entire iPhoto Library to iCloud so other devices that can access these photos by using the same Apple ID. It also has sub-option to keep original photo or keep optimized photo on the device. So questions:
1. This feature seems to do what Photo Stream does, will new taken photos be auto-sent to iCloud and Photo Stream?
2. Does iCloud Photo Library count iCloud storage?
3. Those albums synced with iTunes, will they be uploaded to iCloud Photo Library, and no longer sync with iTunes? Will they be deleted from devices? Will the iTunes Photo Sync selections be disabled?
4. Here "iPhoto Library" refers to the photo library on devices only, or it includes the Photo Library on computer? My Mac iPhoto/Aperture also signs in the same Apple ID, will those photos on my Mac be auto-uploaded to iCloud?
5. Presently I sync selected photos to devices via iTunes, if iTunes Sync is disabled after enabled iCloud Photo Library, how can I send selected photos to devices?
Thanks

2-factor authentication sounds good but what if in the cloud sends your photos to someone else's account?
yeah I know sounds like someone with no idea about how these things work, well please read on.
i posted this last night on tis same forum, and have not received any help on it so far:
subject: Major security issue! I can see 100's of other peoples photos, Help!
Oct 1, 2014 4:39 AM
Using iPad Mini / iPhone 4S
I have just recently enabled the iCloud Photo Library (Beta). I also use MS Onedrive and i have it setup to automatically backup all my photos and      videos from both my iOS devices.
Today i opened Onedrive for no particular reason and clicked on the Photos tab, this shows the progress of photos being backed up, only this time i      scrolled down to find that there was hundreds of photos from different families mixed in with mine dating back to 2002! Naturally the first thing i am      thinking is who is looking at my photos/files. What is going on!!!!
Let me just assure anyone reading this, that the owner of these photographs would not appreciate anyone else having them, these are Kindergarten,      public school and family photos of complete strangers. and all my photos are mixed in between them.
Is anyone else having this issue
iPad mini Wi-Fi + Cellular (MM), iOS 8, iOS 8.0.2

Similar Messages

IPhone photos app crashing consistently with large iCloud photo library beta - how can I completely remove?

Hi - I turned on the iCloud photo library beta on my phone weeks ago. Worked fine with no issues. Then the Yosemite OS X beta 10.10.3 was released with the new Photos app. Once i loaded that new app, it converted my Aperture library and began to upload around 75,000 photos.
My iPhone almost immediately became sluggish (I assumed because it was downloading the pictures) and then eventually started crashing every time I go into the app (after a few seconds). I assumed it was because it showed 75,000 images in my Cameral Roll/Moments so I turned of the iCloud photo library beta. It prompted to be certain I was ok with deleting the images, which I said OK to. But it still shows 75,000 images in the camera roll and anything I tried to do with any photo has become completely unusable (generally just crashing each time).
Did I miss a step in the process?
Is this just me?
I'm trying to backup my iPhone but it keeps erroring out with the message "iTunes could not back up the iPhone "name" because the iPhone disconnected". Otherwise I would just recreate . Please help

It can free up some storage but it doesn't work like Dropbox. See the following quotes from iCloud Photo Library beta FAQ - Apple Support
I personally don't use iCloud Photo Library as it is still beta. Additionally, I have a Mac computer and there is not yet a Mac Photos app that is compatible.
How does iCloud Photo Library save space on my device?
If you turn on Optimize [device] Storage, iCloud Photo Library will automatically manage the size of your library on your iOS device, so you can make the most of your device's storage and access more photos than ever. iCloud Photo Library stores the original, high-resolution photos and videos in iCloud and can keep lightweight, device-optimized versions on each of your devices. As long as you have enough storage, recent photos and videos that you access the most will stay on your device at full resolution.
To turn on Optimize [device] Storage on your device, tap Settings > iCloud > Photos or Settings > Photos & Camera, then select Optimize [device] Storage. You need an Internet connection to access an original photo or video that’s stored only in iCloud.
How does iCloud delete photos and videos from iCloud Photo Library?
Deleting a photo or video from your Photos app will also remove the item from iCloud Photo Library and from your iCloud storage allocation. Photos and videos you remove can be recovered from the Recently Deleted album for 30 days. After 30 days, your content will be removed from the Recently Deleted album. Photos are backed up on our servers for up to 30 days after they're deleted from the Photos app. If you need to recover these photos during that time, contact Apple Support.

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.

I have the iCloud Photo Library (Beta) turned on. The photos from my iPhone do get uploaded to the iCloud. The photos are then downloaded to my wife's iPhone (we share the iCloud account). How do I keep the photos from downloading to my wife's iPhone

I do not want all the photos from my iPhone downloading to my wife's iPhone from iCloud? We share an iCloud account. How can I prevent the download to my wife's iPhone from iCloud. .The "Upload to My Photo Stream" is turned off on my iPhone. . I am running 8.1.3.
I have a related question. In order to same space on my iPhone is there a way to upload the photos to the iCloud and then delete them from my iPhone.

The way to keep the photos from downloading to your wife's phone would be for her to go to Settings > iCloud > Photos > and turn off iCloud Photo Library. If that isn't an option, the other option would be for her to have her own Apple ID ( and possibly explore the new family sharing options https://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/family-sharing/ )
Regarding the "related question" see the quotes below from iCloud Photo Library beta FAQ - Apple Support
Deleting a photo or video from your Photos app will also remove the item from iCloud Photo Library and from your iCloud storage allocation. Photos and videos you remove can be recovered from the Recently Deleted album for 30 days. After 30 days, your content will be removed from the Recently Deleted album.
If you want to reduce the space used by photos on your phone, rather than deleting them see the following:
How does iCloud Photo Library save space on my device?
If you turn on Optimize [device] Storage, iCloud Photo Library will automatically manage the size of your library on your iOS device, so you can make the most of your device's storage and access more photos than ever. iCloud Photo Library stores the original, high-resolution photos and videos in iCloud and can keep lightweight, device-optimized versions on each of your devices. As long as you have enough storage, recent photos and videos that you access the most will stay on your device at full resolution.
You can turn on Optimize [device] Storage from Settings > iCloud > Photos or Settings > Photos & Camera > iCloud Photo Library on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. You need an Internet connection to access an original photo or video that’s stored only in iCloud.

How do I get rid of iCloud photo library beta?

the iCloud photo library beta seemed like a good idea - but it deleted all of the photo that had been automatically shared from my iPhone. Basically doing exactly he opposite of what I understood it to do. So I want it gone.

I came on this site for a similar reason. Where did my pictures go that I saw in my photo library prior to upgrading to this iCloud beta crap?

How can I 're-upload' photos to iCloud Photo Library Beta?

iCloud Photo Library a beta is set up to optimise iPad storage, but when trying to clean up my photo library, and opening photos to assess quality (which isn't feasible with the reduced resolution versions stored on my iPad) the full versions have downloaded and wiped out the storage capacity on my ipad! I need to revert to to the 'minimised' version, but can't see how to do this. Any help appreciated!

Are you really in a hurry to move your photos?
iCloud Photo Library is still a beta version. (See: iCloud Photo Library beta FAQ) The Mac part has not yet been released, but all be available early next year. We do not know yet, what the Mac part of iCloud Photo Library will be like. The Photos.app for Mac will be able to upload to iCloud Photo Library. If you simply wait till early next year, it will be the easiest transit. Then you will be able to migrate iPhoto Libraries and Aperture Libraries to Photos and store the photos in iCloud.
Right now, only iPad, iPhones, iPod Touches can upload to iCloud Photo Library Beta. And if you enable iCloud Photo Library Beta on your mobile devices, the usual ways to upload photos from your Mac will be disabled. It will no longer be possible to sync photos with iTunes, and you cannot upload using My Photo Stream. You would have to mail the photos to your mobile devices to upload them to iCloud Photo Library Beta or use Dropbox or similar.

How upload to iCloud photo library beta from mac

How do I upload photos from imac (iPhoto) to iCloud photo library beta.

I have bought 500 gb of data a month. However what is the point as I only have access to the photos I take on my phone. I have no option in the beta.icloud/photo app to upload my photos from my mac.. what am I missing?
The option to upload should be there on the iCloud web page, but I don't see it. That is what iCloud Help says:
Add new photos or videos
Log in to iCloud.com, then click Photos.
Click Upload and select the photos or videos you want to add.
Click Choose to upload them to your library.
So, I am sure, the option to upload will be there soon. It must be an oversight. Send feedback to Apple: Apple - iPhoto - Feedback
The still elusive "Photos.app" on your Mac is supposed to bring the ability to upload to iCloud Photo Library on the Macs. The release has been announced for "Early next year". For the time being, upload the photos you want in iCloud Photo Library to your devices (Photo Stream, Mail) and add them from there to the iCloud Photo Library.

ICloud Photo Library (Beta) - Can't view older photos from before 2014

Hi All,
I turned on iCloud Photo Library (Beta) on an iPhone 6 and an iPhone 5s. These two phones had different sets of photos at the time. After the synch process completed the two phones now show the same photos. However, only the photos from 2014 are visible on both phones.
Interestingly, if I go to iCloud -> Storage -> Manage Storage -> iCloud Photo Library -> I can see that more photos have been stored than are visible. Storage reports 2600 photos, but I can only view 1800 through the photos application.
I'm hoping this is simply a Beta bug and my photos have not been lost. With luck they will become visible after a future update.
I'm curious if anyone from Apple can confirm this is a known limitation of the Beta. Or if anyone from the community has seen this same behavior.
Thanks

I really wish I could like iPhoto, but I don't know what in the world it is doing, and by locking me out of the Finder access to the iPhoto folder and doing things like duplicating photos without my asking, I've lost trust in this piece of software.
First thing is: It's a Photo manager. That's the basic key thing you need to grasp. Your photo is not the same thing as the file that contans it. That's why Finder access is not relevant. Import the Photo, manipulate the photo - losslessly - and then if you want to use the Photo in a document, upload it, whatever, put it into a new file designed for that purpose.
The illustration I use is as follows: In my iTunes Library I have a file called 'Let_it_Be_The_Beatles.mp3'. So what is that, exactly? It's not the song. The Beatles never wrote an mp3. They wrote a tune and lyrics. They recorded it and a copy of that recording is stored in the mp3 file. So the file is just a container for the recording. That container is designed in a specific way attuned to the characteristics and requirements of the data. Hence, mp3.
Similarly, that Jpeg is not your photo, it's a container designed to hold that kind of data. iPhoto is all about the data and not about the container. So, regardless of where you choose to store the file, iPhoto will manage the photo, edit the photo, add metadata to the Photo but never touch the file. If you choose to export - unless you specifically choose to export the original - iPhoto will export the Photo into a new container - a new file containing the photo.
So as long as you're hanging on to the idea that Photo=Jpeg iPhoto is never going to work for you.
If you're willing to let go of that - as you do with Addresses, as you do in iMovie, Lightroom, Final Cut, APerture - then you can begin to make sense of iPhoto too.
Regards
TD

Uploaded photos to icloud photo library, now how can I remove them from iphone

I have finally uploaded all my photos to icloud photo library, however it has still kept them all on phone - granted they are smaller versions and I have some more space but still want to remove most to make more space - but be safe in the knowledge that they are backup to icloud - a bit like how drop box works. Can anyone tell me how I do this - do I just delete them from iphone, or will that delete from icloud too?
It all seems unnecessarily confusing this icloud photo business.
Thanks
Using iPhone 4s ios 8.1

if you really want to be safe and be for sure that your pictures are saved.
Then import them to your computer Import photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your Mac or Windows PC - Apple Support then you can delete it off your phone.
Here info on icloud library iCloud Photo Library beta FAQ - Apple Support

ICloud Photo Library beta in iOS 8.0.2 - 1134 missing photos?

HI, I foolishly decided to try iCloud Photo Library beta which I activated (after several tries) on my iPad. I chose the "Optimise iPad Storage" option. I had 1189 photos on my iPad, but only 55 are now visible. I checked to see how many were in the iCloud (to do this, on any of my devices I can go to Settings>iCloud>Storage>Manage Storage>iCloud Photo Library> ...it confirms that there are 55 photos in the iCloud. So where are the other 1134?? If I go back to the Photos app and go to Collections, at the bottom it tells me how many photos I have in total - it correctly says 1189, even though only 55 show up. Help please!!

seriously, I don't think there's any bug. I suspect that Apple is aware of everything; I guess they're just testing different configurations on their servers, checking the load etc... another example is that obviously keeping optimized versions of images locally doesn't work for everyone. In my case and in the case of many others who posted here, full res images remain stored locally hours after iCloud has been fully synced, even when the "keep optimized" setting is checked.
Another thing, minor annoyance, updating manually (by clicking on the button at the bottom) doesn't work here; the page must reloaded. Well yes, it all works like a very early beta; shouldn't have been announced and released yet imo.

ICloud photo library (beta) problem

Hello, I updated my iphone 6 to iOS 8.1 and was trying to activate the iCloud photo library (beta) but I have a problem.
When I turn on the option a popup says that the sync will start when the device restore from iCloud will be finished.
Obviously I'm not doing any restore from iCloud at this time. I restored from an iCloud backup a month ago when I purchased the new phone and everything seems to be perfectly fine: I have all my apps, photos, contacts, etc.
One thing I noticed is in my photos app there's a spinning wheel saying the photos are syncing (see screenshot) but that's not true: all the photos are there and there're no unfinished downloads.
I also tried to erase the phone and restore a backup from itunes but it didn't solve the problem.
Does anyone have the same problem? Is there a solution?

I'm running 10.10.1. I'll try updating that in addition to the phone OS.
Don't forget to make a full backup of your Mac, before you upgrade, better safe than sorry.
With iCloud Photo Library Beta enabled, you could download your photos directly from iCloud, while your Photo Stream will not work:
If you enable iCloud Photo Library (Beta) on your iPhone, the iCloud webpage will change for you:
This page https://www.icloud.com will show an additional app:
And if you click the Photos.app on that page, it will take you to a page showing your photos, https://www.icloud.com/#photos
That link is dead for you, as long as you are not using iCloud Photo Library. It will show you the Moments and Albums, just like the Photos.app on the iPad or iPhone.

ICloud Photo Library (beta) version?

I have an iPhone 5c that was recently repaired and upgraded to iOS 8.2. A new feature I noticed was the Photos setting in iCloud, where I have the option to "Optimize iPhone Storage" or "Download and Keep Originals." The wording doesn't make sense to me, and the little description below isn't exactly clear either--what's the difference between the two? I take a ton of photos, so storage is important to me, but does that mean I have lower quality photos saved to my phone only? Or are lower quality photos being backed up on iCloud, too?
Thanks!

See the quotes below from iCloud Photo Library beta FAQ - Apple Support
How does iCloud Photo Library save space on my device?
If you turn on Optimize [device] Storage, iCloud Photo Library will automatically manage the size of your library on your iOS device, so you can make the most of your device's storage and access more photos than ever. iCloud Photo Library stores the original, high-resolution photos and videos in iCloud and can keep lightweight, device-optimized versions on each of your devices. As long as you have enough storage, recent photos and videos that you access the most will stay on your device at full resolution.
To turn on Optimize [device] Storage on your device, tap Settings > iCloud > Photos or Settings > Photos & Camera, then select Optimize [device] Storage. You need an Internet connection to access an original photo or video that’s stored only in iCloud.
What happens if I turn off iCloud Photo Library?
You can turn off iCloud Photo Library for a single iOS device by going to Settings > iCloud > Photos and turning off iCloud Photo Library beta. If you turned on Optimize [device] Storage, you might not be storing all original photos and videos on that device. To download the original photos and videos, select Download and Keep Originals. Then you can turn iCloud Photo Library off. You can also select the items that you want to download within the beta Photos app on iCloud.com.
You can disable iCloud Photo Library (and recover iCloud storage) for all devices by going to Settings > iCloud > Storage > Manage Storage > iCloud Photo Library beta, then selecting Disable and Delete. Once disabled, you will have 30 days to download your library to at least one device. You can download your photos and videos to your iOS device by turning on Keep Originals or by selecting the items to download from iCloud.com/photos.

"iCloud photo library (beta)" warning is unclear

I'd like start uploading my iPhoto libraries so that I'm ready when Photos comes out.. But turning on "iCloud photo library (beta)" on my iPad warns that "photos synced from iTunes will be removed." 929 photos will be removed! It's not clear to me what will happen. Will I really lose some photos? (Don't want that.) How do I find the 929 photos and get them in the library (pretty sure they would already be. (Camera dumps into iPhoto.) https://help.apple.com/icloud/#/mm347a0b35d8

Where are these 929 photos. Are they in your photo stream album because iCloud photo library replaces photo stream.
In any case iPhoto library is a beta (although it's working fine for me) you shouldn't use it without backing up your current photos anyway.

Deleting the pictures my camera roll to iCloud Photo Library beta?

What if I delete several pictures from my camera roll then will it automatic to delete from iCloud Photo Library beta?

Yes according to the quote below from iCloud Photo Library beta FAQ - Apple Support
Deleting a photo or video from your Photos app will also remove the item from iCloud Photo Library and from your iCloud storage allocation. Photos and videos you remove can be recovered from the Recently Deleted album for 30 days. After 30 days, your content will be removed from the Recently Deleted album. Photos are backed up on our servers for up to 30 days after they're deleted from the Photos app.
If you are wanting to keep the photo but reduce storage space used on the phone, the following quote from the same source may help:
How does iCloud Photo Library save space on my device?
If you turn on Optimize [device] Storage, iCloud Photo Library will automatically manage the size of your library on your iOS device, so you can make the most of your device's storage and access more photos than ever. iCloud Photo Library stores the original, high-resolution photos and videos in iCloud and can keep lightweight, device-optimized versions on each of your devices. As long as you have enough storage, recent photos and videos that you access the most will stay on your device at full resolution.
You can turn on Optimize [device] Storage from Settings > iCloud > Photos or Settings > Photos & Camera > iCloud Photo Library on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. You need an Internet connection to access an original photo or video that’s stored only in iCloud.

ICloud Photo Library Beta

Quick question about iCloud Photo Library Beta - seems great to have everything synced but what happens if eg my kid (or someone malicious) gets hold of my iPhone and starts deleting photographs there so that they're also deleted on all other devices? I get that they're kept for 30 days but what if I don't realize for over 30 days that they're gone - is there any way to recover them after that time? I'd be especially worried once I put my desktop into that system too, exposing even photos I've edited there. Or what am I missing? Thanks

Very Good Point, Best synchronisation systems have a document version history FOREVER say wuala for example, you can delete what you want in your history whenever you want and you have a cursor to get back in time, buts its very expensive and lacks automatic uploading for photos and videos. Nothing yet perfect.
With amateur systems like all cheap clouds, you need to have local or cloud backup like time machine, carbon copy or likes, just in case...
Second weakness point is that you definitly does not want you full Library on all your computers and devices, and nothing seems to be planned to solve this problem.

ICloud Photo Library (beta) - how does it work?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for