Photo sync confusion

[Eric212]

Hi, I am running iOS 8.1.1 on an iPhone 5s.

Previously I have used OneDrive to sync all of my photos between my old Android phone, the cloud, and my PC. I did this with an app called "onesync" that allowed 2 way syncing between all devices and the cloud. I loved it, It was perfect. I have 1 TB of space on OneDrive, so it is my preferred cloud service for keeping all my stuff in one place.

When on WIFI my phone would automatically sync with OneDrive and my PC. If I deleted a pic from my pc, it also deleted it from the cloud and my device. or if I deleted a pic from my phone it would also delete it from my pc. True 2 way sync-ing.

I did get the OneDrive app for iPhone, but the additional syncing app "OneSync" is not available in the app store. I guess it is only for Android.

So.... I said ok I will use iCloud to sync my photos. Here is where I get confused. I have turned on "iCloud Photo Library" on my phone, and have downloaded and installed "iCloud for Windows" on my PC. Now my pics sync properly to the cloud, but do not show up in my PC... In the iCloud photos folder on my pc there are 2 folders, one that says "My Photo stream" and another that says "shared". Now if I enable My photo stream on my device it will sync with my PC, but these photos are deleted after 30 days I understand? I don't want that. It seems iCloud photo library and Photo stream kind of overlap each other?

So, in summary: I am looking to be able to sync my photos in a 2 way fashion between my PC, the cloud and my iPhone using OneDrive OR iCloud. Onedrive is preferred because I have 1 TB of space on there an only 5 GB on iCloud, but I'll take what I can get. Or at least some clarification on the iCloud photo library vs photo stream thing.

Sorry for writing a book here , if any more info or clarification is needed please let me know. Thanks!

 

[J. A.]

As far as I know you don't need another app, if you use OneDrive on your iPhone. OneDrive on the Android wasn't able to sync automatically, while this is possible on the iPhone. Pictures you add on your computer will be visible in your iPhone as well, and vice versa. OneDrive on your iDevice allows automatically uploading photos to the app/OneDrive, afaik, if you turn on Camera Backup.

Here's the difference between PhotoStream and Camera Roll: while pictures in Camera Roll stay as long as you don't remove them, those in PhotoStream will disappear after 30 days, or, if you've reached the limit of 1000 pictures before the 30 days limit. On your PC, you're able to save them somewhere before the 30 days are over. PhotoStream is intended to use for syncing between Apple devices. If you only use the iPhone, you won't really need it, especially because of the 30 day and 5 GB limit.

You also get 1 TB of free storage space on Flickr, which syncs between OS. If you don't want to show the images to other members, just keep them private, and no one else will see them. It's also possible with Flickr to automatically upload images from your Photos app on the iPhone. You'll need a Yahoo account to use Flickr, I think. It was possible to sign up with a Gmail account some time ago, but afaik that's not possible any more.

Hope that helps.

 

[Eric212]

Thanks for your reply, yes I know OneDrive has the backup function, but this just backs up every photo, in a one way fashion. If I take 100 pics, then later delete 50 of them, the 100 are still saved on the cloud & the pc. That extra app let me have the cloud and my pc be a mirror of what is on the phone, and vice versa.

Here is another source of confusion for me, you refer to "camera roll" yet I dont see those words anywhere on my phone. Does camera roll = photo library? And do i understand correctly that the only way to have the pics download automatically to my pc is to use photostream, which will require me to save the images somewhere else on the pc within 30 days or they're gone?

Thanks so much for your time!

 

[J. A.]

I was refering to one of the albums in the Photos app. If you use iCloud Photo Library (Beta), you'll see "All Photos" instead of Camera Roll and PhotoStream.

You could also try PhotoSharing. Here's a link with explanations and instructions: iCloud Photo Sharing FAQ - Apple Support
The only limit there is the 5000 images limit.

 

[Eric212]

I think I am just going to use iCloud Photo Library and leave PhotoStream off, then every once in a while I will just go to the iCloud website to download the pics to my pc manually, or connect via USB to download to the PC. and delete them from iCloud, which will also delete them from the phone. So as long as I do that often enough as to not hit the 5 GB limit on iCloud, it should work fine.

In fact, then I can put the pics in my pictures folder on OneDrive where I have my 1 TB limit, so if I need to access the older pics from my phone I can do so via the OneDrive app. This is a couple more steps than I'd like, but should work fine, I'll get used to it. Plus iCloud Photo Library is in beta, so maybe this will change in the future for the final release.

Thanks J.A for the info! If anyone else wants to add anything please do.

 

[J. A.]

You're welcome.

 

[Ledsteplin]

I think I am just going to use iCloud Photo Library and leave PhotoStream off, then every once in a while I will just go to the iCloud website to download the pics to my pc manually, or connect via USB to download to the PC. and delete them from iCloud, which will also delete them from the phone. So as long as I do that often enough as to not hit the 5 GB limit on iCloud, it should work fine.

In fact, then I can put the pics in my pictures folder on OneDrive where I have my 1 TB limit, so if I need to access the older pics from my phone I can do so via the OneDrive app. This is a couple more steps than I'd like, but should work fine, I'll get used to it. Plus iCloud Photo Library is in beta, so maybe this will change in the future for the final release.

Thanks J.A for the info! If anyone else wants to add anything please do.

Just be sure to save storage space in iCloud for your back up of what's currently on your phone. That 5 gb goes fast.


Sent from my ancient but trustworthy iPhone 5.

 

[Grame smith]

I see that you are having 1 TB in onedrive which is huge, so you love it. One drive is not for what you want. You can try flicker as an alternative. You just have to keep them in private.