Sounds kind of like iCloud Photo Library, right? But there’s a little difference: My Photo Stream uploads all your new photos and sends them to all your devices. My Photo Stream (Yes, we’re adding another one) Photos and videos in iCloud Photo Library count against your available iCloud Storage.
If you’re using iCloud Photo Library and iCloud Backup, you could be paying to back up the same photos twice: Once in your iCloud Photo Library, once in your iCloud Backup. iCloud Backups are one big file that restores your entire iPhone - there’s no way to access individual files. iCloud Backup is different: You can’t see individual files or photos in your iCloud Backup, even if photos are part of the backup. There are some important differences between iCloud Photo Library and iCloud backup that you should understand before we move on.Īll your devices can access and view individual photos that are stored in iCloud Photo Library. ICloud Photo Library uploads and stores all of your photos and videos in iCloud so you can access them from all your devices. iCloud Drive shares files like documents and user preferences that aren’t that big to begin with, so in most cases it doesn’t have much of an effect on your total iCloud Storage.įiles in iCloud Drive count against your available iCloud Storage.
It’s like Dropbox or Google Drive, but it’s more integrated into Apple software because Apple made it. ICloud Drive is a newer feature that allows apps on Macs, iPhones, and iPads to synchronize files using iCloud. (You’ll see why I’m saying this in a minute.) iCloud Drive ICloud Backups count against your available iCloud Storage. Whether it’s a toilet phone or you leave it on the roof of your car, iPhones live dangerous lives and you should always have a backup. ICloud Backup is a feature on iPhones, iPads, and iPods that backs up your entire device to iCloud, just in case something unfortunate happens. An iCloud+ plan includes iCloud Private Relay, Hide My Email, Custom Email Domain, and HomeKit Secure Video support. Recently, Apple has begun to include additional features when you sign up for a paid iCloud storage plan.
Once your iCloud Storage is full, your iPhone will stop backing up to iCloud until you purchase additional storage space or free up storage space in iCloud.
You can upgrade your storage to 50 GB, 200 GB, or 2 TB (2 terabyte is 2000 gigabytes), and the monthly fees aren’t too bad - but it’s not necessary. We’re solving a problem now that will become more and more expensive with time. Everybody gets 5 GB (gigabytes) for free. ICloud Storage is the total amount of storage space available on iCloud. Let’s take them one by one: iCloud Storage If you’re confused, you’re right where you’re supposed to be. There’s no understanding the solution to this problem without understanding the players in the game, so we need to start there. iCloud Storage and iCloud Drive and iCloud Backup and iCloud Photo Library, Oh My! (Yes, it’s one too many) They’ll be gone by the time you finish reading this article. If you’ve seen messages like “This iPhone hasn’t been backed up in weeks”, “iPhone cannot be backed up because there is not enough iCloud storage available”, or “Not Enough Storage”, don’t worry.