iCloud Photos quest...
 

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iCloud Photos question...

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I've been using iCloud for ages now to back up from my phone, but recently I went through loads of old photos from CD's and memory sticks for my daughters 21st and dropped them into Photos on my MacBook.

Thousands of these photos have now popped into my camera roll on my iPhone. And I don't want them there! 😬

Is there a way to make the iPhone 'one-way' so it backs up to iCloud but doesn't show all the photos in iCloud on my phone. I don't need to see 1000's of archive photos on there. I still want to view them on my MacBook and iPad though.

Ta! 🙂


 
Posted : 04/12/2023 9:22 am
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I love the fact that every photo I've taken since 2001 is available at all time on all my devices 🙂

In Photos if you select an image and use Image > "Adjust Date & Time", you'd at least be able to put them in the right place chronologically, rather than them being dumped when you imported them (though if they have correct EXIF metadata, maybe they are in the right place already). If you are worried about storage space on the phone, make sure "Optimise Phone Storage" is turned on in Photos settings so that only thumbnails are downloaded to the phone rather than the original images. Also available in the Image menu is "Hide Photos", so you could hide them if you just need them backed up but not visible (though they will be hidden on all devices). 


 
Posted : 04/12/2023 10:03 am
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Don't think so, iCloud sync is all or nothing. But they don't take up space on your phone, it downloads them as you look at them.

If you don't want them there, may be worth creating another library for the old photos - option-click Photos app to get the dialog for creating a new one. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/photos/pht6d60b524/mac


 
Posted : 04/12/2023 10:05 am
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It's not the space I'm worried about.

I'm now having to scroll past 1000's of photos to find one I took a few weeks ago! 😱

Exif data on old photos has long gone after being stored on multiple devices so they're showing as new.


 
Posted : 04/12/2023 10:25 am
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I’m now having to scroll past 1000’s of photos to find one I took a few weeks ago! 😱

Exif data on old photos has long gone after being stored on multiple devices so they’re showing as new.

So you need to solve that using the method I suggested (edit date & time in Photos), and then you won't have to scroll past them as they'll be in the right place.


 
Posted : 04/12/2023 10:27 am
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There is no “camera roll”, just the Photos app. What exactly is the problem you’re trying to solve?

If you don’t want them there, may be worth creating another library for the old photos
the problem here is it won’t get automatically backed up to the cloud.

The only workaround I can think of is to move them to the “hidden” photos folder. They won’t appear unless you specifically choose this folder, they’ll still be backed up & available on all devices, although you lose the ability to search.


 
Posted : 04/12/2023 10:28 am
 Drac
Posts: 50352
 

I’m now having to scroll past 1000’s of photos to find one I took a few weeks ago!

You can search for the subject, location, date or even text to find the one you’re after.


 
Posted : 04/12/2023 10:37 am
 DrJ
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the problem here is it won’t get automatically backed up to the cloud.

But if he makes an "old photos library", he can back that up himself and it's done. Then he can have a "current photos" library that is backed up as he adds to it. Wouldn't that work?


 
Posted : 04/12/2023 11:45 am
 IA
Posts: 563
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Exif data on old photos has long gone after being stored on multiple devices so they’re showing as new.

exif data is in the file itself, not metadata of the file. So if it was there it shouldn’t be gone. Look at the file info to check it.

If you have a recent import of old correctly dated photos they’ll show as recent in the “recents” album but in the correct place if you browse all photos in the library tab on iOS.


 
Posted : 04/12/2023 11:45 am
 DrJ
Posts: 13416
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You can search for the subject, location, date or even text to find the one you’re after.

You can do some pretty cool searching on Photos, but it is sometimes quicker to just scroll back through your recent photos.


 
Posted : 04/12/2023 11:46 am
 Drac
Posts: 50352
 

If they’re recent then yes.


 
Posted : 04/12/2023 12:11 pm

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