Commentary: The lack of family photos on iCloud is a glaring problem that dates back to the days of iLife (2023)

FAQs

What happens when you stop using family iCloud storage? ›

What happens when you stop sharing? Your Apple ID is removed from the family group and you won't have access to any services shared by your family, such as an Apple Music family subscription or a shared iCloud storage plan.

Everyone's personal files and preferences stay private

When you share iCloud+, family members can't see each others' photos, files, or documents. And when you share other subscriptions like Apple Music, Apple Fitness+, or Apple TV+, each person sees their own preferences and recommendations — not the whole family's.

This is because the device is syncing with iCloud where the photos you deleted on your iPhone will still be available. This will lead to the “iPhone photo storage full but no photos” problem.

When you share an iCloud+ subscription, everyone in the family group uses their own account. That way your photos, documents, and other information stay private, even though you're sharing access to the service.

Most of the time, I recommend having at least a separate personal Apple ID for iCloud, iMessage, and FaceTime and (if desired) have everyone share one Apple ID for the iTunes and App Stores.

We already mentioned that disabling iCloud Photos will remove your access to all images stored on cloud storage except the ones captured on the same device. Therefore, if you want to disable iCloud Photos, make sure that you have created a backup of the images on iCloud that you might need in the future.

On a Mac, go to System Preferences > iCloud and click Manage Family. Click Add Family Member or click the “+” button at the lower left and then follow the onscreen instructions. On an iOS device, go to Settings > iCloud > Family > Add Family Member. You'll need each family member's email address.

When you click on the Photos app, you should see iCloud Photos and to the right of it an icon for the Sidebar. If you hover with your mouse to the right of the word Library, you will see the option to show or hide the Library. When you choose to show the Library, you will see four views: Photos.

For these reasons, the iCloud's memory is more permanent and preserved better than the memory on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. However, the connectivity between iPhone and iCloud means that if you delete a picture on your iPhone, it's also scrubbed from iCloud.

Your photos and videos are stored on your device in their original, high-resolution version. This means that they use a lot of space on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

What is eating up my iPhone storage? ›

Open your iPhone's Settings menu, tap General and go to iPhone Storage. You'll see a list of your apps along with how much space each app occupies and the last time you used it. Scroll through the list and try deleting apps that you haven't used in a long time.

You can open up the ‌Photos‌ app on the ‌iPhone‌ and scroll down to the "Utilities" section to access the Duplicates album to merge photos in the Shared Library.

Whether you need to implement some parental controls for your youngster's iPad or you just want an easy way to share app and media purchases with your partner, Family Sharing offers you the tools across your Apple devices. Given it can save you actual money, it's well worth taking the time to set up Family Sharing.

Use the web to find where you're signed in

From the Devices section of your Apple ID account page, you can find all of the devices that you're currently signed in to with your Apple ID, including Android devices, consoles, and smart TVs: Sign in to appleid.apple.com,* then select Devices.

Deleting iCloud backup is not as bad as it sounds. Here are the main points you should know about: It will erase the data you previously backed up to iCloud. So, in case you need to set up your iPhone from scratch, you will not be able to recover data from iCloud.

Whether you should upgrade your iCloud+ account depends on your device usage and storage needs. For instance, if you store a lot of data and transfer it between multiple Apple devices, you'll benefit from the services of iCloud+. At the very least, you won't waste time backing up your data manually.

How do I keep up with family photos? ›

iCloud Photo Sharing lets you share photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, or Windows computer. You can even share photos with people who don't have iCloud Photo Sharing set up on their device. Unlike Instagram or Facebook, shared iCloud albums only let people you've invited see photos.

iCloud can keep your photos in sync across all your devices, for example – iPhone, iPad, Mac, and PC. You can set up your devices to automatically place a copy of all photos in iCloud, and you can manually upload photos from your Mac or Windows PC to iCloud as well.

When you delete a photo or video from Photos on iCloud.com, it's also deleted from all your devices that have iCloud Photos turned on. If you change your mind, you have 30 days to recover it before it's permanently deleted.

Your device will immediately remove any photos and videos that you delete and they won't be available for recovery in your Recently Deleted album. If you're out of storage, your devices won't back up to iCloud, and new photos, videos, documents, and your information won't stay up to date.

If you delete a photo or video that's backed up in Google Photos, it will stay in your trash for 60 days. If you delete an item from your Android 11 and up device without it being backed up, it will stay in your trash for 30 days.

If your iCloud storage is full, you can prohibit apps from creating backups via the “Manage storage” option. Photos, videos and email attachments also tend to take up a lot of space.

iCloud Photos always uploads and stores your original, full-resolution photos. You can keep full-resolution originals on each of your devices, or save space with device-optimized versions instead. Either way, you can download your originals whenever you need them.

How do I clear my phone storage without deleting anything? ›

For example, when Family Sharing is set up, a Family album in iCloud is automatically created but this requires family members to manually add photos and videos to it, and it's limited to 5,000 items. "When you set up your family, a shared album is created automatically in the Photos app on all family members' devices.

Unlike iCloud, Google Photos allows users to edit directly from the cloud, and the features are more advanced. In all, Google Photos is better compared to iCloud in terms of editing photos, as it offers more advanced editing features.

Because family-sharing accounts allow for so much heightened access across your family's devices, it also poses some safety concerns. Namely, if a person's device gets hacked, it means that the whole family is then at risk. That could mean the compromising of sensitive information and passwords.

What happens when you stop sharing? Your Apple ID is removed from the family group and you won't have access to any services shared by your family, such as an Apple Music family subscription or a shared iCloud storage plan.

Here's a potential downside: with location sharing enabled, every family member has the power to wipe every other device, iOS and Mac, that's part of the family group. Apple recognized that not all families are happy families, and that hardware might fall into the wrong hands.

What Happens When You Stop Family Sharing. Before you cut off yourself or anybody else from your family group, know that doing so will cut off that member's access to shared Apple services and subscriptions. This includes iCloud storage plans, apps, subscriptions, and DRM-protected content.

What happens when you stop sharing. Google One family plan members will: Stop using your available storage. If they run out of storage, their files will stay safe, but they won't be able to store anything new.

What happens when you downgrade or cancel iCloud+ If your iCloud storage exceeds your new storage plan capacity, iCloud won't sync or update your information. iCloud updates again when you increase your storage capacity or delete information to make more space.

What happens when you stop paying for cloud storage? ›

You will no longer be able to synchronize or access your data from your local computer. But, rest assured all the data will remain safe inside the cloud storage. None of the data will be deleted from your cloud storage account and you can still access all your files without any problem.

Family members share the storage space that comes with your Google One plan. But your family group can't see what you store unless you specifically share it with them from Google Drive, Gmail, or Google Photos.

The removed person immediately looses access to shared purchases (though they will remain on any devices until deleted), the Family Photo Stream, Family calendar, and everything else Family Sharing entails. The removed family member receives a notification of the removal.

NOTE: To use Screen Time with Family Sharing, you need to be the family organizer or parent/guardian in your family group, on at least iOS 12 or iOS 13. Your child must be under age 18, in your family group with their own Apple ID, and on at least iOS 12 or iOS 13.

Children under 13 years old must be part of a family group managed by a parent or guardian.

When you delete a photo or video from Photos on iCloud.com, it's also deleted from all your devices that have iCloud Photos turned on. If you change your mind, you have 30 days to recover it before it's permanently deleted.

For these reasons, the iCloud's memory is more permanent and preserved better than the memory on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. However, the connectivity between iPhone and iCloud means that if you delete a picture on your iPhone, it's also scrubbed from iCloud.

Cloud based storage is dependent on having an internet connection. If you are on a slow network you may have issues accessing your storage. In the event you find yourself somewhere without internet, you won't be able to access your files. There are additional costs for uploading and downloading files from the cloud.

How much does iCloud storage cost? Apple offers four storage options: 5GB (free); 50GB (99 cents/month); 200GB ($2.99/month); and 2TB ($9.99/month). If you use other services, such as Apple Music or Apple TV+, then you may find it makes sense to subscribe to the Apple One service, which may save a few bucks.

How do I get rid of iCloud storage without paying? ›