External storage for full iCloud!

[crazypiglady]

I’ve paid for additional storage but my iCloud is still full, I think it’s videos taking up space but they’re special (childhood memories etc) & I don’t want to delete them. I’m thinking of transferring to an external hard drive but it makes me nervous putting them on just one device in case that becomes lost or corrupted, I like iCloud because I feel like my pictures & videos are safe 😭 any suggestions for safe storage?

Pay for more ICloud storage.

Google drive

Personally I would pay for more iCloud storage, but I would also look to have a cull.

Currently I pay £2.99 for 200GB which I consider good value. As it syncs across two devices I effectually have three back-ups of my photos and videos (iCloud, Mac book and Mac mini).

I extensively use the shared albums with friends and family so want everything in one place.

I also like the fact that I have set up legacy contacts on my iCloud account, so everything can be access by my partner and children should I check out without much notice.

I do keep a local copy of the Photos Library (RAIDed NAS), but I've never needed it, and doubt I ever will.

I don’t really understand the iCloud storage as it seems to need to be stored on your phone anyway so doesn’t actually help. When I got my latest phone I just got the 512mb memory and delete all the shit.

That’s not true unless you don’t use the optimise storage option which nowadays is the default. Your phone will have thumbnails of your photos, but if you click on something from months ago, it’ll download the full resolution from the cloud for you to view as it’s not actually on your phone.

@Dbank your photos are only in the cloud, they don’t exist on all three of your devices. They can be viewed on them but they are not stored on them.

Backups should always be stored on more than one external drive or cloud storage service in case of device/service failure.

Incorrect they are "optimised" on my Mac book, and Mac mini so they are fully downloaded, but not "optimised" on my iPhone.

Optimised means they’re not on your device. They’re in the cloud but available to view on your device.

support.apple.com/en-gb/105061

I don't trust Google Drive, so tried storing stuff on thumb drives. Only to find that it gets sucked up into GD anyway. GD keeps telling me to buy more storage. I'm assuming that it won't suck up more unless I pay, so maybe I have my solution.

Interesting. I probably haven’t quite described my issue correctly. I remember if I deleted the image on my phone, it was also removed from iCloud. How do I get it solely stored on iCloud? Or are saying it automatically sorts that? I pay £25 for Apple Music/tv and storage.

Yes sorry, you're right I meant downloaded, not optimised.

You can’t - iCloud is not external storage in that sense, it’s more of an extension of your device so whatever action you make on that device it’ll be mirrored in iCloud. It serves two purposes really - saving your data in case your phone is damaged or stolen and allows you to offload bigger files from your device. You would need to consider other storage options if you just wanted to safeguard your pictures and not access them from your phone such as another cloud storage (google, Dropbox, box) or a hard drive.