Photo Sream help - sort of!

[rwsinky]

I set my wife's IPad mini up with PhotoStream and it works fine. It also shares all the contacts, notes, and calendars from an ICloud id I have set up so we both can share data that is input at one location/id on my desktop. I recently got myself an IPad mini and wanted to set up PS on it as well. I could not get it working so I compared the settings on the two devices. My question comes down to how she is getting the data from this "common" icloud id. Somewhere in her settings there has to be a link to this id - right? Darned if I can find it and it is driving me nuts - a short drive!
Thanks,
Russ

 

[twerppoet]

When you activate Photo Stream on a new device, then only the photos taken from that point on will show up in the Photo Stream album on the new device. Or, that was the way it worked the last time I used it.

Photo Stream is not intended to be permanent shared album. Instead it's there so that you can easily share new photos between your devices. If you want to keep the photos on that device, you're supposed to make a copy. Photo Stream does not keep photos indefinitely, There is a 1000 photo after which older photos are deleted form your iOS devices. Also, even though photos are in your Photo Stream on a device they may no longer be available in iCloud, which only stores them for 30 days.

Bottom line; if you use Photo Stream as a permanent shared album, eventually you're going to lose photos.

My Photo Stream FAQ - Apple Support

If you want to have permanent shared albums on all your devices the iCloud options are iCloud Photo Library or iCloud Photo Sharing.

iCloud Photo Sharing is automatic and has no library limits, but uses your iCloud storage. That means you almost inevitably need to pay for more iCloud storage.

iCloud Photo Library FAQ - Apple Support

iCloud Photo Sharing is manual (you must add the photos) and has an user limit to the number of photos and ablums, but it does not count against your iCloud storage. It being manual, is the biggest limitation, as the number of photos limit is far more generous than the Photo Stream.

iCloud Photo Sharing FAQ - Apple Support

 

[rwsinky]

Thanks for the reply. I think I have bigger issues than this. I will have to see if I can sort them out. I cannot get Notes to sync. Bah Humbug!

 

[rwsinky]

OK, may be on to something here. My IPad mini is NOT listed as a device on my AppleID in ICloud. How do I get that added?
Thks Russ

 

[twerppoet]

Thanks for the reply. I think I have bigger issues than this. I will have to see if I can sort them out. I cannot get Notes to sync. Bah Humbug!

If/when you updated to iOS 9 there should have been a question about updating the notes in Notes. If you've done this you won't be able to sync notes with any iOS device not on iOS 9. Besides changing the Notes format, Apple also changed the backend where the notes are stored and synced from. It's a much better service in most ways, but not compatible with the old notes syncing method.

 

[twerppoet]

OK, may be on to something here. My IPad mini is NOT listed as a device on my AppleID in ICloud. How do I get that added?
Thks Russ

Go to Settings > iCloud and make sure you are signed in with the same Apple ID as your other devices. You can also try signing out, and back in. This may force your iCloud account to see the new device.

 

[rwsinky]

Thanks for hanging in on this! Tried what you said with no change. I have 4 devices - 1 IP6's and 2 IPad mini 3's. Three of these are syncing great. One of the mini's is not syncing with Notes as I have said. The Appleid that I use to input all info shows 3 devices and does NOT show the mini that is giving me fits. How do I get this mini to show as a device on that Appliid? I went to Mail,Contacts & Calendars and compared all 4 devices. This common Appleid I use shows on all 4 BUT what seems strange to me is that on the three that work they gave a "Sign Out" option but the one that is not working has a "Delete Account" option. It's as if it's a different type of account. Make any sense?

 

[rwsinky]

Woo Hoo! Got it! On the mini that was not syncing I had set up the Appleid incorrectly. Hard to imagine! I apparently set it up an "Other" account. I went back in under Mail, Contacts, & Calendars and set it up as an ICloud account. I had assumed you could only use 1 Appleid there. When I did that my notes came back and the mini appears with the other 3 on that Appleid. This has been a oearning experience for me and I REALLY appreciate your help.
Thank you!
Russ

 

[twerppoet]

Glad you got it fixed.

Some unnecessary extra info:

The account you set up under Settings > iCloud is your primary iCloud account; and this is the best place to set it up if you want to be sure you're syncing with that account.

If you don't set up your primary account in Settings > iCloud, the first iCloud account you set up under Mail, Contacts and Calendars becomes your primary account. You access it in either place, though Settings > iCloud shows you a more complete set of options.

It is possible to set up a second iCloud ID in Mail, Contacts, and Calendars (after the first); yes, using the default iCloud setup method. Last I checked you only get the basics here, Mail, Contacts, Calendars (and maybe Notes). It won't let you play with the other sync features like Safari, Pictures, etc. Those have a one-to-one relationship with their apps. And Backups, of course, only work with one account.

The second iCloud account will work just like a second email account, because that is what it is.

This is rarely a useful feature, but it can come in handy in a household that want's to share their email accounts, but have separate backup space for their devices.

Note on Notes. While I have not tried it, I suspect the second account, if it support Notes, will not support the new note format. Besides the format, the new Notes app uses a superior backend for syncing. So it's best to stick to the primary iCloud account for Notes syncing if at all possible.