Gimnicher Computer Services
  • Home
  • About
  • Testimonials
  • Technology Blog
  • Newsletters prior to 2015
  • Remote Support
  • Contact
  • Search this Site

Apple Photo and Video Management

2/6/2017

1 Comment

 
​One of the many great features of Apple iPhones and iPads is their ability to create high quality photos and videos.  This frequently results in having many photos and videos that gobble up your device storage and raises the question of how to retain your wonderful memories.
 
Apple provides two mechanisms to address these issues:  iCloud Photo Library and My Photo Stream.  My Photo Stream has existed since iOS 6.0 and iCloud Photo Library was introduced with iOS 8.1.  The current version of iOS is 10.x, so these capabilities have been available for quite some time.
 
Although both mechanisms can be used, there are some important differences between the two that is important to understand. 
 
Both mechanisms when properly configured automatically upload your photos to iCloud (Apple’s cloud storage offering) and synchronize the photos across properly configured iPhones, iPads, iPod touches, Macs, Windows PCs, and Apple TVs (4th generation).  Synchronization means that a photo taken on one device will automatically appear on all the other devices; similarly a photo deleted on one device will be deleted on all devices.  Any photos deleted can be recovered from a Recently Deleted album for 30 days.  For all of this to work, iCloud has to be on all your devices and all the devices must be signed into iCloud with the same Apple ID.  Photos are synchronized from your iOS device when your device connects to Wi-Fi and your battery is charged and you have at least 300MB of free disk space. 
 
Now for the differences.  With My Photo Stream photos only the last 30 days of photos are stored and you can have no more than 1,000 photos.  The storage used for My Photo Stream is not part of your iCloud storage.  Photos downloaded to your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch are in a smaller device-optimized resolution, but on your Mac or PC are in full resolution.  Any edits you make won’t be updated across all your devices.
 
iCloud Photo Library adds synchronization for Apple Watch and also includes the same mechanism for videos.  It uses iCloud storage and as long as you have enough available storage in iCloud will store as many photos and videos as you like.  The default is to store them at full-resolution, but there is an option called Optimize Storage to save space on your device by storing lower resolution copies.  Edits are updated across all devices.  When iCloud Photo Library is enabled, the photos and videos are not included in your iCloud backup.  If you want to keep extra copies, they can be downloaded from iCloud.com or copied by attaching your iOS device to your computer with the lightening cable (the cable you use to recharge your device).
 
When you first sign up for iCloud, you get 5GB of free storage.  If you need more storage, you can buy extra starting at $0.99 a month for 50GB, $2.99 a month for 200GB, or $9.99 a month for 1TB (1000GB).
 
If you are going to take photos and videos that you care about on Apple devices, then it is crucial that you understand how they are managed.  Similar mechanisms exist for Android devices, but that is a topic for another day.
1 Comment

    Author

    Hi!  This is Steve. I've created this blog to share technology information relevant to you: the home or small business user of computers and mobile devices.

    Archives

    October 2023
    June 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    June 2022
    October 2021
    June 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

    Subscribe to our mailing list

    * indicates required

This site follows Gimnicher Computer Services’ standard Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
​Redwood City Business License Tax # 48438

Copyright © 2010 - 2024