r/iCloud • u/InfiniteDate6288 • Dec 01 '24
iCloud Storage Question iCloud Photos
Hi all, very quick question. Can iCloud be used to free up memory on an iPhone? Like can I store 40gb of photos/vids on iCloud and have that free up space on my phone by those photos being removed off my device?
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u/Ready_Ad_4395 Dec 01 '24
Not sure how much GB you got on your phone or how much pictures but, I have 70000+ and my phone is 256 and I still got 139gb left. Optimise your pics upload.
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u/carwash2016 Dec 01 '24
60000+ on 128gb iPhone with 68gb
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u/InfiniteDate6288 Dec 01 '24
Bro teach me how please. I’ve legit got 10,000 pics and 1,000 vids only and my whole memory is getting chewed
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u/Soldiiier__ Dec 01 '24
If you turn on the “optimise storage” option in the photos app settings, then you can keep access to the full photo library without downloading the full library, only a lower res thumbnail would be kept, and the higher res version can be accessed anytime you view a picture
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u/InfiniteDate6288 Dec 01 '24 edited Dec 01 '24
This is brilliant advice, I’m gonna give it a crack and let u know how it goes. Thank you. What about for videos which chew up the majority of data?
Second question: does this still retain all media on my actual phone (not talking about iCloud here)
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u/Chapman8tor Dec 01 '24
That is good advice. Just remember, with that setting enabled, when it comes to sending photos to be printed, you should always do so from a computer instead of your iPhone.
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u/InfiniteDate6288 Dec 01 '24
No worries, what about for sending photos to someone else’s phone?
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u/Ready_Ad_4395 Dec 02 '24
The full resolution of your pics will be uploaded to iCloud until you interact with them in any way they’ll be fully downloaded for printing, viewing, forwarding etc etc and after that interactions at some point iOS will upload the full resolution again
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u/Dreaming_Blackbirds Dec 01 '24
short answer: no
longer answer: iCloud is rather confusingly named because it works better for syncing than storage. ie: it syncs your Mac "Documents" folder and (optionally) syncs photos between devices.
you'll need to use a different online storage service (or a physical drive) to store photos safely outside your phone.
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u/Soldiiier__ Dec 01 '24
Your answer isn’t entirely correct. The 40gb theoretically iCloud Photos, can be sync’ed onto the iPhone at Lower res to optimise storage space. So you’d hope only ~10gb would actually be used on-device-storage
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u/InfiniteDate6288 Dec 01 '24
I see, thank you for this I’m Gonna try this optimization. I think another issue is that like half my photos are non deletable for some reason, there’s legit no option to remove them and some of them are copies of other deletable versions
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u/Soldiiier__ Dec 01 '24
Non deletable is strange? Are they part of an album or something?
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u/InfiniteDate6288 Dec 01 '24
Not album. I just have photos that do not have trash can icon, they can’t be deleted off my phone and they are consuming memory
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u/Soldiiier__ Dec 01 '24
Screenshot? do they exisist when you view your photo library on iCloud.com?
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