Third Party Apps for iCloud Photos

[Speed38]

I volunteer helpig seniors experiencing problems with Apple devices and I would welcome advice on which software application would be best to suggest for a senior with very little computer/iPhone savvy.

A senior lady logged into my session today. She owns a Samsung computer running, she believes, Windows 10 or better, has a fairly new iPhone, and wants to sync the photos on her iPhone with her Samsung computer.

I searched and found this:
There is no official Windows version of Apple Photos. However, there are a few third-party apps that allow you to view and manage your iCloud Photos library on a Windows computer. One popular option is called iCloud Photos Viewer. This app allows you to view your iCloud Photos library, download photos to your computer, and upload new photos to iCloud.

Another option is called iCloud Photos Manager. This app allows you to view your iCloud Photos library, download photos to your computer, upload new photos to iCloud, and edit your photos.

Both of these apps are free to download and use, but they offer in-app purchases for additional features, such as the ability to sync your iCloud Photos library to your Windows computer.

If you are looking for a free and easy way to view and manage your iCloud Photos library on a Windows computer, I recommend iCloud Photos Viewer. It is a simple and straightforward app that does exactly what it says it does.

And then I found this, which looks like the answer to her problem: iCloud for Windows.

The iCloud for Windows application allows you to access various services and features provided by Apple on your Windows-based computer. Here's a breakdown of what you can do with it:

4. Access to Photos, Videos, and Calendars: iCloud for Windows allows you to access your photos, videos, and calendars stored on iCloud. This is particularly useful if you're using a Windows PC as your primary device 3410.

Any suggestions from anyone?? Ideally, for her, the least complicated solution that will allow her to sync the photos on her iPhone with the photos on her Samsung Windows machine would be ideal.

 

[ozaz]

Can you provide links for the iCloud Photos Viewer and iCloud Photos Manager apps that you mentioned? I can't find them myself.

I'm somewhat familiar with Apple's official solution - iCloud for Windows. If all that's needed is a local copy of the iCloud photos library that can be viewed using various sort options and search options on Windows PCs (sort by date etc) then its fine. However, there are things to be aware of such as lack of integration with private iCloud photo albums (although there is integration with shared libraries and shared albums). Another key thing to understand is if photos are edited on Windows PCs those edits don't get synced back to iCloud. You need to save a separate copy of the edited version (i.e. different filename) to be uploaded. Probably the easiest way to learn about these and other nuances is to read through the official guide, which is only about 10-15 pages long: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/icloud-windows/icw9f0ba665f/icloud

Another option, if an offline copy isn't needed, is to use iCloud.com. It doesn't have any editing tools, but you can view the full structure of the iCloud Photos library including private albums. You can also download individual or multiple photos as needed.

Another option is to ditch iCloud Photos and go with something else for cloud backup/sync. Google Photos is excellent for people who don't want to put time into organising their photo collection, as its search features are exceptional. However it doesn't have a Windows application so you can't easily sync photos onto Windows PC for offline access. Access on Windows PC would be via the Google Photos website. This probably isn't an issue for most people and its far more feature rich than iCloud Photos website. For best integration with Windows offline viewing and editing tools, I would assume the best option is Microsoft OneDrive. However, you'd probably lose out on the photo viewing experience on iOS devices as the OneDrive iOS app is likely not as good for managing/viewing/editing photos as the Apple Photos and Google Photos iOS apps (haven't really used OneDrive for photos myself though).

 

[Speed38]

Damn, this is going to be harder than I thought.

I must have been given old info with regard to iCloud Photos Viewer and iCloud Photos Manager because I can't find them either; not anywhere.

The problem is that this old gal, like many of the seniors I try to help, has an extremely low frustration level when it comes to tech and is quick to abandon anything complicated.
A quote from one of her recent emails to me: "I do appreciate your explaining this. I find it overwhelming. I have often wished to give up this phone as it is too sophisticated for my lifestyle."

All of your suggestions seem straightforward and not that complicated, but I could never get her to follow through on them. Maybe I ought to investigate iCloud for Windows as the simplest solution for her? What do you think?

And, belatedly, thanks for taking the time to write that fulsome and helpful response, much appreciated.

 

[ozaz]

I have a similar scenario with my elderly mother, which is why I have an interest in this. My Mum has a MacBook but its no longer receiving updates and Apple Photos no longer syncs. She isn't really interested in buying another Mac and I haven't used Macs for years so don't have a spare to give to her. So I'm thinking of giving her one of my spare Windows laptops or putting a Linux distro on her MacBook. She doesn't want to switch to Google or Microsoft for photo management/backup as she likes sharing photos/albums via Apple/iCloud Photos.

At the moment I'm undecided but I think I'll show her how to use iCloud.com. I'll get her to login to iCloud photos via Brave browser and use a feature it has to create a shortcut to the iCloud Photos page and configure that shortcut to open in its own window (so will appear like a dedicated app). Can have this shortcut appear in the start menu, taskbar, or desktop. This might also be possible in other browsers (particularly other Chromium-based browsers), but I use Brave so am familiar with it.

I might also install iCloud for Windows (if I set her up on Windows) and just have that run in the background so she has a local copy of her photos for disaster recovery in case anything unforeseen happens to her iCloud account**. But I'll encourage her to use iCloud.com (via bowser app/window as above) instead of Windows File Explorer / Windows Photos app for interacting with her photos on the laptop.

** Note by default iCloud for Windows doesn't download photos. It defaults to Windows files-on-demand feature (which just shows a placeholder/thumbnail in File Explorer). But it can be configured to download all photos. Also, if a photo is deleted from iCloud Photos it will also be deleted from the mirrored Windows folder but I think will remain in Windows recycle bin until removed from there (if the iCloud for Windows folder was configured to download all files).