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Surprisingly, I've received a similar storage notice from Apple before the holidays and I decided to download all photos/videos into my own media server instead

Surprisingly, I've received a similar storage notice from Apple before the holidays and I decided to download all photos/videos into my own media server instead of hosting it on iCloud. There is not an easy, straight-forward way to download your archive from iCloud. I am slowly getting there using multiple machines and devices. The issue with the recent changes with Apple is that they increase the prices for no good reason. We're always going to take photos/videos and their sizes keep increasing with modern tech and capabilities.

sgloutnikov 3y ago
What about the Photos app on MacOS if you have one? I keep a local copy of my iCloud Photo Library and sync it through the MacOS Photos app.
- chrischen 3y ago
  Photos app for offline storage is also woefully neglected by Apple. They don't really design it for use with an external drive (you are expected to locate your library on a internal storage or permanently attached storage). The reason is that the photo library constantly gets corrupted on external drives, forcing a long rebuild/repair process. Often the photos app doesn't even detect the iphone even when plugged in, and it's a serious bug that Apple has neglected for years.
  - geekifier 3y ago
    Everything Apple does seems to be designed to drive hardware sales. Why support external drives, when you can be up-sold for larger internal storage (at a huge markup)? The "Photo Library" could simply be a database file with references to photo locations, alas that might confuse Mac/iOS user with "files" vs "photos".
- Nextgrid 3y ago
  > What about the Photos app on MacOS if you have one? If you ever try a large-scale import/export into macOS Photos be prepared for 100% CPU, endless spinner cursors and the process ending up killed because it ran out of memory.
msh 3y ago
There is an easy way to get your Data. It's just kind of hidden. It's works the same way as Google Takeout. To get to it do this: Sign in to your Apple ID account page at appleid.apple.com on a Mac, iPhone, iPad or PC. Go to “Data & Privacy” and select “Manage Your Data and Privacy.” On the following page, go to “Get a copy of your data” and select “Get started.”
- asdaq1312512 3y ago
  privacy.apple.com is a neat shortcut, it's the first option there.
mmh0000 3y ago
>> There is not an easy, straight-forward way to download your archive from iCloud. Let me revolutionize your life: https://github.com/icloud-photos-downloader/icloud_photos_downloader https://github.com/icloud-photos-downloader/icloud_photos_do...
- otterpro 3y ago
  Thanks! That tool is what I was looking for. I think you saved me hours of frustration.
  - leipert 3y ago
    AFAIK, it doesn’t support shared iCloud libraries but https://github.com/steilerDev/icloud-photos-sync https://github.com/steilerDev/icloud-photos-sync does. Edit: Seems like it has gotten support since I’ve last looked: https://github.com/icloud-photos-downloader/icloud_photos_downloader/pull/678 https://github.com/icloud-photos-downloader/icloud_photos_do...
Mister_Snuggles 3y ago
> There is not an easy, straight-forward way to download your archive from iCloud. I use PhotoSync[0] to copy photos from my iPhone to a NAS. It's an excellent program. It will even download photos from iCloud as needed and can do format conversions. I run it every few days to push new photos to my NAS so that I've always got a local copy (these also get backed up to Backblaze B2 nightly). The format conversion lets me keep HEIC+JPG pairs of my photos, so I have the original and something that's more readily usable. What I really want is something that will do the same thing, but with iCloud Drive. I keep a bunch of stuff in there and it bothers me that I don't have a reasonable way to back it up. Apple's recommended methods[1] leave a lot to be desired. [0] https://www.photosync-app.com/home https://www.photosync-app.com/home [1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204055 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204055

sgloutnikov 3y ago

What about the Photos app on MacOS if you have one? I keep a local copy of my iCloud Photo Library and sync it through the MacOS Photos app.

chrischen 3y ago
Photos app for offline storage is also woefully neglected by Apple. They don't really design it for use with an external drive (you are expected to locate your library on a internal storage or permanently attached storage). The reason is that the photo library constantly gets corrupted on external drives, forcing a long rebuild/repair process. Often the photos app doesn't even detect the iphone even when plugged in, and it's a serious bug that Apple has neglected for years.
- geekifier 3y ago
  Everything Apple does seems to be designed to drive hardware sales. Why support external drives, when you can be up-sold for larger internal storage (at a huge markup)? The "Photo Library" could simply be a database file with references to photo locations, alas that might confuse Mac/iOS user with "files" vs "photos".
Nextgrid 3y ago
> What about the Photos app on MacOS if you have one? If you ever try a large-scale import/export into macOS Photos be prepared for 100% CPU, endless spinner cursors and the process ending up killed because it ran out of memory.

msh 3y ago

There is an easy way to get your Data. It's just kind of hidden. It's works the same way as Google Takeout. To get to it do this: Sign in to your Apple ID account page at appleid.apple.com on a Mac, iPhone, iPad or PC. Go to “Data & Privacy” and select “Manage Your Data and Privacy.” On the following page, go to “Get a copy of your data” and select “Get started.”

asdaq1312512 3y ago
privacy.apple.com is a neat shortcut, it's the first option there.

mmh0000 3y ago

>> There is not an easy, straight-forward way to download your archive from iCloud. Let me revolutionize your life: https://github.com/icloud-photos-downloader/icloud_photos_downloader https://github.com/icloud-photos-downloader/icloud_photos_do...

otterpro 3y ago
Thanks! That tool is what I was looking for. I think you saved me hours of frustration.
- leipert 3y ago
  AFAIK, it doesn’t support shared iCloud libraries but https://github.com/steilerDev/icloud-photos-sync https://github.com/steilerDev/icloud-photos-sync does. Edit: Seems like it has gotten support since I’ve last looked: https://github.com/icloud-photos-downloader/icloud_photos_downloader/pull/678 https://github.com/icloud-photos-downloader/icloud_photos_do...

Mister_Snuggles 3y ago

> There is not an easy, straight-forward way to download your archive from iCloud. I use PhotoSync[0] to copy photos from my iPhone to a NAS. It's an excellent program. It will even download photos from iCloud as needed and can do format conversions. I run it every few days to push new photos to my NAS so that I've always got a local copy (these also get backed up to Backblaze B2 nightly). The format conversion lets me keep HEIC+JPG pairs of my photos, so I have the original and something that's more readily usable. What I really want is something that will do the same thing, but with iCloud Drive. I keep a bunch of stuff in there and it bothers me that I don't have a reasonable way to back it up. Apple's recommended methods[1] leave a lot to be desired. [0] https://www.photosync-app.com/home https://www.photosync-app.com/home [1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204055 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204055