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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask what the withdrawal of apple Photo stream means and what to do?

28 replies

NotBuyingThis · 27/05/2023 11:28

Got this email from Apple today:


My Photo Stream will be shut down on 26 July
Dear
My Photo Stream is scheduled to be shut down on 26 July, 2023.
As part of this transition, new photo uploads to My Photo Stream from your devices will be stopped on 26 June. Any photos uploaded to the service before that date will remain in iCloud for 30 days from the date of upload and will be available to any of your devices where My Photo Stream is currently enabled. By 26 July, there will no photos remaining in iCloud, and the service will be shut down.
The photos in My Photo Stream are already stored on at least one of your devices, so as long as you have the device with your originals, you will not lose any photos as part of this process. If a photo you want is not already in your library on a particular iPhone, iPad or Mac, make sure you save it to your library on that device. For more information on this transition and instructions on how to download photos from My Photo Stream, read Information about the My Photo Stream shutdown.
Moving forward, iCloud Photos is the best way to keep the photos and videos you take up to date across all your devices and safely stored in iCloud. iCloud Photos can be enabled on iOS 8.3 or later, iPadOS 8.3 or later, and macOS 10 Yosemite or later. Once set up, you can view your photos and videos in the Photos app on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, iCloud.com and even sync them to a Windows PC using iCloud for Windows.
For more information about My Photo Stream visit this support article.
Sincerely,
Apple Support

OP posts:
openstop · 27/05/2023 11:28

I think its saying your photos should be on a phone?

Original poster
NotBuyingThis · 27/05/2023 11:29

I need to have a major weed out of my photos anyway but have I got to go through and save all the ones I want????

Where will they be?

Things like this put me in a panic of tech uselessness.

OP posts:
Original poster
NotBuyingThis · 27/05/2023 11:30

But won't they synch between devices any more?

OP posts:
gwenneh · 27/05/2023 11:32

NotBuyingThis · 27/05/2023 11:30

But won't they synch between devices any more?

They will, you just have to switch to iCloud Photos.

EdinaCrump · 27/05/2023 11:49

Yes just turn on iCloud Photos. You’ll get 5Gb storage free, and can pay for more than that if needed.

You should only have an issue if your devices are ancient.

Rummikub · 27/05/2023 12:22

Is this happening to everyone on Apple?!

I have an old ipad with photos of dc on it.

I agree op this sort of stuff stresses me out.

Original poster
NotBuyingThis · 27/05/2023 12:32

Agree @Rummikub

I do have lots on iCloud and I pay £0.79 a month for more.
But I have no idea where it all goes!!! And sometimes I still get notices I don't have enough iCloud storage. I think things that I don't particularly want to save to the cloud get stored there anyway and use up the storage.

And if nothing was going to change/I didn't need to take any action they wouldn't need to send a notice about it would they? 🤷‍♀️

OP posts:
Rummikub · 27/05/2023 12:39

@NotBuyingThis
i pay the 79 p too so I’m confused. Aren’t they all on iCloud anyway?

My iPad photos I’ve shared with this iPhone. So that’s ok right...

Dbank · 27/05/2023 12:56

Apple Photo stream is indeed being suspended, but it was fairly limited anyway, all it did was copy images into your iCloud account for 30 days, upto a limit of 1,000 images.

You're probably using the replacement application Photos that can optionally sync with iCloud.

To check its enabled and working correctly, log into your iCloud account with a web browser, (iCloud.com) then look Photos (in the browser), you will see all of your photos from any device that has has the iCloud feature enabled in Photos. (that is signed into the same iCloud account)

To check if it's enabled on an iOS (device, go...
Settings > Apple ID, iCloud, Media and Purchases > iCloud > Photos > Sync this phone / iPad etc.

On Mac OS,(Ventura 13.1) open the Photos Application then > Settings > iCloud > iCloud Photos.

As you add, edit or delete images on one device they will automatically sync and update on all of the other devices that are signed in to same iCloud account.

You can start breathing now...

(Steps reproduced on Mac OS Ventura 13.1, and iOS 16.5, but earlier versions will be the same or similar)

Rummikub · 27/05/2023 13:41

@Dbank thank you for the clear step by step instructions.

just checked my iPhone and iCloud is enabled but my photo stream is not. That’s ok isn’t it?

I’ll have to check my iOS 6 iPad too... though those photos I can see in my iPhone .. so does that mean those are on iCloud too?

Rummikub · 27/05/2023 13:42

I guess I’ll have to check dc ipods too.

Original poster
NotBuyingThis · 27/05/2023 14:01

Thanks so much @Dbank

I think mine is all fine but my default when I see an email like this is to panic!

Would you mind answering a related, but different query.

From time to time when opening an email it doesn't download and there's a note saying not downloaded or whatever the precise wording is. Sometimes it's on my phone at work. When I get home and look on my iPad it opens. Occasionally it happens when looking at my emails on my MacBook. But I can open it on my phone or iPad. Occasionally it will be one of several emails from the same sender and the others open but a random one doesn't.
I get there in the end but it's quite annoying, especially if it's something I want to see and I'm at work and don't have access to other devices.

OP posts:
Dbank · 27/05/2023 14:52

Re emails not opening when expected.

As the issue has been observed on different devices at different times, I would suspect the issue may lie with the mail server you are connecting with.

I am also assuming these issues are observed when using the Apple Mail application (iOS or Mac OS)

My first step when you next observe the issue is to see what happens when you access the emails via a web browser, aka Webmail. (most mail servers support web mail)

Do you also know if you're using IMAP to access your mails ? (you can see it in the settings) If so the emails remain on the mail server, and are only copied to your device.

If you are using IMAP on Mac OS, you could try Mailbox > Rebuild. which will reload the emails and might resolve the issue.

Failing that you could try removing and adding the account again, but as I say the issue may be out of your control and with the mail server.

stillnotworkingout · 27/05/2023 15:00

Marking to come back to

noblegiraffe · 27/05/2023 15:08

I got this email and couldn't figure it out either. I don't think I'm using photo stream. Really bad communication from Apple.

Tableinthecorner · 27/05/2023 15:56

@Dbank thank you so much, if only apple had sent your reply in the first place

Dbank · 27/05/2023 17:53

Rummikub · 27/05/2023 13:41

@Dbank thank you for the clear step by step instructions.

just checked my iPhone and iCloud is enabled but my photo stream is not. That’s ok isn’t it?

I’ll have to check my iOS 6 iPad too... though those photos I can see in my iPhone .. so does that mean those are on iCloud too?

If iCloud is enable on both devices (iPhone and iPad) and the images are syncing between the two devices then it's working.

You can check what's "really" on iCloud by logging into iCloud.com with your browser.

Dbank · 27/05/2023 17:58

noblegiraffe · 27/05/2023 15:08

I got this email and couldn't figure it out either. I don't think I'm using photo stream. Really bad communication from Apple.

You may have used Photo stream on a device in the past, that is still connected to your iCloud account. Even if said device is long since in landfill.

You can check what devices are connected with your Apple ID on the link below.

https://appleid.apple.com/account/manage/section/devices

Apple ID

Your Apple ID is the account you use for all Apple services

https://appleid.apple.com/account/manage/section/devices

User1529865 · 27/05/2023 18:09

Good Lord, I have just seen I have the email, glad this thread is here, I can't see any photo stream on mine, maybe it is those older phones and macs on the older OS, I also pay 79p to iCloud.

Original poster
NotBuyingThis · 27/05/2023 18:51

Thanks so much @Dbank for the collective hand hold and clear instructions.

Haven't got around to checking my emails yet but I will follow your advice and see what I can find.

I think my photos will be fine though I will check as you advise. DH downloaded the ones on my first iPhone circa 2010 onto a hard drive and I have got them on my laptop.

OP posts:
Rummikub · 27/05/2023 19:04

“You can check what's "really" on iCloud by logging into iCloud.comwith your browser.”

@Dbank
thank you! I have never logged into my iCloud account and just did that now. I could see all my iPhone photos but not iPad. So (somehow!) I downloaded my shared iPad photos to this iPhone and now they’re safely on iCloud!!

I'm relieved! Thank you again!

User1529865 · 27/05/2023 19:08

I also followed @Dbank instructions, thanks for these, photos all look in order While doing this I also noticed that my iCloud back up was switched off for my phone so had a momentary panic then as I couldn't get it backed up properly, it kept failing, it's all ok now though. I don't know how it switched off as it always used to be on. Perhaps I should check these things more often

Dbank · 27/05/2023 19:35

It is worth noting that it iCloud can take a while to initially sync across multiple devices, occasionally hours depending on the volume of images and videos, and the speed of the connection.

Jeaunxbaby · 27/05/2023 19:36

You should probably read this thread, @NotBuyingThis.

MidgeHardcastle · 27/05/2023 19:44

I've just received the email as well. Will read the thread properly later but thanks to those that have given instructions on what to do next.