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Storage of photos

n4uau

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My device shows, under Manage Storage, that I have 2.0 Gb of photos on the device. For iCloud Storage it shows 950 Mb of photos stored there. Since the iCloud is supposed to have full pixel storage of photos and the device can have full or "optimized" photos I am wondering why photos on the device is GREATER than on the cloud. I'd expect the exact opposite or the same.
 
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n4uau

n4uau

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Well let me ask it a different way.

I also save these pictures on dropbox. Could the dropbox thumbnails be taking up as much space on the device as the full pictures. I certainly shouldn't think so but so far nobody offered any other suggestions :-(
 

twerppoet

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Did you tap on the Photos entry in the Manage Storage list? It may breake down the photos into sub catagories, offering more clues.

Also, Photos in the Shared and Photostream areas won't show up in the iCloud Photo Library storage. They are in iCloud, but they don't count against your storage limit.

And check the very bottom of the Photos tab. It will tell you if there are any pending uploads/downloads from the library.
 
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n4uau

n4uau

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Twerppoet, thanks for suggestion. Photos use 2.0 Gb. Photo Stream is 395kb. So that is not the difference.

The only significant PhotoShare file (268 photos of 632 total photos) I have is Family Shared, mostly from my photos. Surely those would not be full size duplicates but rather pointers to my All Photos.

I have put many of my photos into sub albums but again I should think these are pointers to the main photo not full size duplicates. Deleting from All Photos deletes the photo in the sub folder but not vice versa.

I cannot open Drop Box photos on the iPad when not connected to the cloud indicating it only stores thumbnails on the device.

Other thoughts?
 

twerppoet

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Twerppoet, thanks for suggestion. Photos use 2.0 Gb. Photo Stream is 395kb. So that is not the difference.

The only significant PhotoShare file (268 photos of 632 total photos) I have is Family Shared, mostly from my photos. Surely those would not be full size duplicates but rather pointers to my All Photos.

I have put many of my photos into sub albums but again I should think these are pointers to the main photo not full size duplicates. Deleting from All Photos deletes the photo in the sub folder but not vice versa.

I cannot open Drop Box photos on the iPad when not connected to the cloud indicating it only stores thumbnails on the device.

Other thoughts?

Albums are pointers, Shared albums/photos are not. Consider the difference in how you make albums and shared folders, and how they have to work.

To move a folder to an album, all you have to do is select it, then choose Add Too; all wihtin the app, no Share/Action Sheet. To place a photo into a shared album you have to use the Action/Share sheet (the box icon with the up arrow). Whenever you use the Share Sheet you're almost always dealing with another app, or some separate feature of iOS.

And then there is the difference in how they are used. An album is just a collection in your photos app. It's only there for you and it can only contain photos that you add; an organization tool. A shared album has to be there for everyone you share it with, and if you give permisison other people can add, delete, or edit those photos. Moreover, if you are on the recieving end of a shared album the last thing you want is someone with the ability too add photos to your main Photo Library and use up your iCloud Storage space.

You can delete phtos form a shared album, or from the photo library, and they have no effect on each other.

That said, shared albums do tend to optimize. Older photos often take a bit to download and display at full resolution, just like photos in the iCloud Photo Library.

So, yes, shared albums do take up space on the iPad separate from the photo library. So does the PhotoStream. Combining the two probably makes up the majority of the difference you are seening; though I can't guarantee that.
 
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n4uau

n4uau

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Twerp poet,
Did a bit math and it seems to support your theory. Guess the 'sneaky' thing is that shared does not count on iCloud. Yet :)
 

twerppoet

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Twerp poet,
Did a bit math and it seems to support your theory. Guess the 'sneaky' thing is that shared does not count on iCloud. Yet :)

Thanks. I feel better having some confirmation. I always worry that I might be leading someone astray with. Even with my best guesses, they are still guesses.
 
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n4uau

n4uau

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Twerp poet,
Did an experiment and deleting photos from family share did NOT appear to lower storage size of photos. (They were all my photos, not photos shared by other family members. )

HOWEVER deleting photos from the cache holding Deleted Photos did reduce storage. Also as all Unselected Burst Mode photo were being held for 30 days, deleting 10 apparent photos actually deleted many more with the burst.

Try it and see. I think that is main reason my photo storage on iPad is greater than on the cloud. Like to see if you get the same results.
 
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J. A.

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The images in the Recently Deleted album count against the storage on your album. But they are also in iCloud. You can see them when you login to www.icloud.com, and open Photos.
 

twerppoet

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Well yes, deleted photos aren't really deleted until they are also deleted from the Deleted Photos folder. It's your second chance to keep a photo if you made a too hasty decision. And burst photos are however many times larger as there are photos in the burst. There is no space savings there. All the photos in a burst are full sized.

I am a bit surprised that your iCloud storage doesn't reflect this, but perhaps Apple is being nice and not counting them against your limit; since the storage is temporary.


That Shared Photos didn't make a difference surprises be a bit, but not hugely. Just like photos in the iCloud Photo Library (if Optimize is turned on), Shared photos may or may not be optimized on the iPad. It depends on whether you've opened them recently. That makes it difficult to tell how much space they are taking up. In some apps, when I want to import a photo from the shared folders I have to go to Photos and view them full sized first, or the opening app grabs the local, lower resolution version.

I created a shared folder just for Wallpapers, back before iCloud Photo Library existed, and I have to do this before I use one of those images to set a new Wallpaper. It's not normally a problem for photos in the main library. The iPad is a lot smarter about grabbing the full sized images from there.


I'm going to take your word for this, since it all makes sense. I'm far too lazy to take a bunch of burst photos, wait for the data to upload/update, then delete them, wait, check again, then really delete them, and check again. Sorry. :oops:
 
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n4uau

n4uau

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Guess it is all magic. Before I used 2.0 Gb on the Pad and 950 Mb on the cloud. After deleting those "deleted photos" I had 1.6 Gb and 928 Mb respectively.
Oh well, I still have plenty of room so I'll blunder along :) none the wiser.
 

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