iPhone 8/Plus My quandary about backing up and your thoughts

[AMSOS]

Here is how I backup photos/videos on my phone--I shoot only a limited number and don't like to archive everything. Every now and then I use AirDrop to shift these to my computer and also back them up on my ext HDD.

The problem is, even with my limited collection, it takes a good bit of time to sort through Photos and decide how to archive my collection. This means I keep putting off the sorting and archiving process.

The obvious alternative is to just upload everything on iCloud Photos and buy more storage when these get filled up. This still doesn't solve archiving issues and going back to find out a photo from a few years ago is often quite a task. Second, I am not a fan of putting all of my data online, even if on my cloud account.

What, in your opinion, is the most efficient way to backup and archive in way that allows the photos to be quickly found after some years?

I'd like appreciate it you share how you backup your photos, videos, and other files from your phone.

Thanks!

 

[1rottenapple]

In for advice. You’re right it’s a delimna that no one has figured out. We take so many pics but how many of these will we actually look at again? I just upload to google photos. It’s free anyway and unlimited space. I upload important pics situated around events in my life. That’s how I do it. I’m not consistent though.

 

[palemonkey]

I use Google Photos the free version and also this app to copy my photos to my PC automatically, which in turn then backs them up to Backblaze https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/photosync-transfer-photos/id415850124

 

[ericwn]

I use iCloud photos and am happy with this workflow. Every now and then I sit down and take the time to clean my collection from the unnecessary garbage.
Fully integrated, always available, no ad company involved.

 

[bransoj]

I use OneDrive and back them up via their app. Then i have the OneDrive application on my windows laptop to sync the drive and i can delete\move around as required on there.

 

[Major774]

iCloud works wonders for me and is safely backed up.

I manage my photo/videos on the PC.

 

[BenTrovato]

I use Google Photos the free version and also this app to copy my photos to my PC automatically, which in turn then backs them up to Backblaze https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/photosync-transfer-photos/id415850124

Interesting.. Been looking for something like this, going to give it a try!

 

[MisterSavage]

I use Google Photos the free version and also this app to copy my photos to my PC automatically, which in turn then backs them up to Backblaze https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/photosync-transfer-photos/id415850124

Google Photos and Backblaze for me also. Backblaze isn't free but I think the price is trivial to back up my huge photos/music collection. I resisted putting everything on a while but then I started thinking about how I would react if I lost all of my photos due to fire, theft, natural disaster, etc.

 

[achappy]

I switched to iCloud Photos a few years ago and it's pretty seamless for me. On my iPad/iPhone I have it set to Optimize Photos and on the iMac I have it set to full resolution and I have a Time Machine backup to an external drive. I have OneDrive as well but iCloud Photos is so much better and integrated.

Regarding searching. I don't think people realize how much machine learning is done by Photos. Facial recognition, objects, places, dates, etc. You can also combine search items (i.e dog + location + time of year). And now with iOS14 you can add captions to photos and search for that. It may not be on the level of Google Photos but it's pretty extensive and all done on device for privacy.

So I have no issues searching old photos.

 

[ericwn]

I switched to iCloud Photos a few years ago and it's pretty seamless for me. On my iPad/iPhone I have it set to Optimize Photos and on the iMac I have it set to full resolution and I have a Time Machine backup to an external drive. I have OneDrive as well but iCloud Photos is so much better and integrated.

Regarding searching. I don't think people realize how much machine learning is done by Photos. Facial recognition, objects, places, dates, etc. You can also combine search items (i.e dog + location + time of year). And now with iOS14 you can add captions to photos and search for that. It may not be on the level of Google Photos but it's pretty extensive and all done on device for privacy.

So I have no issues searching old photos.

I’m glad that you mentioned searching, it has really improved a ton with machine learning. It recently found the exact images of a drum kit that I took years back when I was searching for “drums”, as an example.

 

[AMSOS]

In for advice. You’re right it’s a delimna that no one has figured out. We take so many pics but how many of these will we actually look at again? I just upload to google photos. It’s free anyway and unlimited space. I upload important pics situated around events in my life. That’s how I do it. I’m not consistent though.

Exactly. This nice website dedicated to photography made the great suggestion that we should make sure to actually print an album every year. This is simply because we are filing away all those photos, which no one other than us will likely ever see. Hence the need to select the best and actually print them out every now and then.

The thing is I don't want to have to deal with constant archiving, even as I realise the need for it. I also realised that it'll help if we have some algorithms helping us sort out all this data. It's just that I am not comfortable letting Apple or anyone else do it on my behalf.

 

[AMSOS]

I use iCloud photos and am happy with this workflow. Every now and then I sit down and take the time to clean my collection from the unnecessary garbage.
Fully integrated, always available, no ad company involved.

That's definitely an option I am actively considering. It's right where I store all photos and videos. If I let Photos upload to the cloud, will it allow me to build folders with names? I could then download these directly on to my external.
[automerge]1602052911[/automerge]

iCloud works wonders for me and is safely backed up.

I manage my photo/videos on the PC.

How do manage these pictures/videos? Once you see these pictures and videos on Photos on your computer, how do you download them and archive them?

 

[AMSOS]

I switched to iCloud Photos a few years ago and it's pretty seamless for me. On my iPad/iPhone I have it set to Optimize Photos and on the iMac I have it set to full resolution and I have a Time Machine backup to an external drive. I have OneDrive as well but iCloud Photos is so much better and integrated.

Regarding searching. I don't think people realize how much machine learning is done by Photos. Facial recognition, objects, places, dates, etc. You can also combine search items (i.e dog + location + time of year). And now with iOS14 you can add captions to photos and search for that. It may not be on the level of Google Photos but it's pretty extensive and all done on device for privacy.

So I have no issues searching old photos.

Can I actually access the Photos folder on my Mac? I'd like to create folders with names and dates of events. From what I know Photos will backup in it's own folder on my Mac as well as through Time Machine on an external. I want to be able to control this.

Machine learning sounds good. You're saying all these algorithms will work to sort out my pictures only on my iPhone? And ditto for my Mac? That this sorted out information will not be transmitted to any external server? What if I am using Photos through the cloud? Isn't that unencrypted?
[automerge]1602053128[/automerge]

I’m glad that you mentioned searching, it has really improved a ton with machine learning. It recently found the exact images of a drum kit that I took years back when I was searching for “drums”, as an example.

This sounds useful. How did you set this up?

 

[1rottenapple]

Exactly. This nice website dedicated to photography made the great suggestion that we should make sure to actually print an album every year. This is simply because we are filing away all those photos, which no one other than us will likely ever see. Hence the need to select the best and actually print them out every now and then.

The thing is I don't want to have to deal with constant archiving, even as I realise the need for it. I also realised that it'll help if we have some algorithms helping us sort out all this data. It's just that I am not comfortable letting Apple or anyone else do it on my behalf.

Ya that’s probably why it’s good for me to have google photos as an automatic backup as well as an external HD might not be such a bad idea I think. My 256gb iPhone doesn’t help because you end up taking tons of pictures and videos without regard to managing it. Before the pandemic I flew overseas on a 12 hr flight I used to use that as an opportunity to delete pictures lol.

 

[ericwn]

This sounds useful. How did you set this up?

It’s done automatically by photos.

 

[MisterSavage]

Exactly. This nice website dedicated to photography made the great suggestion that we should make sure to actually print an album every year. This is simply because we are filing away all those photos, which no one other than us will likely ever see.

That's why I like having a Google Home device. I have it configured to use my Google Photos collection as wallpaper. It displays a new photo every few minutes.

 

[achappy]

Can I actually access the Photos folder on my Mac? I'd like to create folders with names and dates of events. From what I know Photos will backup in it's own folder on my Mac as well as through Time Machine on an external. I want to be able to control this.

Machine learning sounds good. You're saying all these algorithms will work to sort out my pictures only on my iPhone? And ditto for my Mac? That this sorted out information will not be transmitted to any external server? What if I am using Photos through the cloud? Isn't that unencrypted?
[automerge]1602053128[/automerge]

This sounds useful. How did you set this up?

By default the Photos Library is a single database of all of your photos. When you import photos, it imports into the Library. However, you can turn this off and have it so the Photos Library references external files (say on an external hard drive). If you have it setup with external references, those files are NOT backed up nor are they stored in iCloud (so you loose the cross device sync). You may want to look into using Smart Albums which you can then specify dates. However, these do not sync across iDevices and will only be available on the Mac.

The machine learning is done on device but the information is synced across devices. That information is part of the photo metadata that is shared across devices which is encrypted. The machine learning categorization is automatically done in the background on all photos in your library. No need to do anything.

 

[Major774]

That's definitely an option I am actively considering. It's right where I store all photos and videos. If I let Photos upload to the cloud, will it allow me to build folders with names? I could then download these directly on to my external.
[automerge]1602052911[/automerge]

How do manage these pictures/videos? Once you see these pictures and videos on Photos on your computer, how do you download them and archive them?

I login via the website. Select the photos/videos I want and download them onto my PC. If I delete them, they will disappear from the phone as well, simple.

 

[AMSOS]

By default the Photos Library is a single database of all of your photos. When you import photos, it imports into the Library. However, you can turn this off and have it so the Photos Library references external files (say on an external hard drive). If you have it setup with external references, those files are NOT backed up nor are they stored in iCloud (so you loose the cross device sync). You may want to look into using Smart Albums which you can then specify dates. However, these do not sync across iDevices and will only be available on the Mac.

The machine learning is done on device but the information is synced across devices. That information is part of the photo metadata that is shared across devices which is encrypted. The machine learning categorization is automatically done in the background on all photos in your library. No need to do anything.

Sounds good. From what I know about photos I can't go into a Finder window to individually see a picture(s). If I were to want to edit a picture/video I would need to go into the Photos app on my Mac or phone and do it from there. This is unlike the pictures I manually save in different folders. These I can open and edit with any program etc.
Am I right? If yes, is there a workaround to this?

 

[achappy]

Sounds good. From what I know about photos I can't go into a Finder window to individually see a picture(s). If I were to want to edit a picture/video I would need to go into the Photos app on my Mac or phone and do it from there. This is unlike the pictures I manually save in different folders. These I can open and edit with any program etc.
Am I right? If yes, is there a workaround to this?

You are correct. All editing is done within the Photos app on macOS/iOS. The advantage of that is all edits are non-destructive and sync across devices but you lose the ability to use Finder for management.