Hey everyone, I could really use some help understanding iCloud and how it works with my iPhone. I have a 128GB iPhone, and it's currently full of photos and videos. Ideally, I'd like to keep my pictures on my phone and avoid using an external hard drive. If I decide to buy the 500GB iCloud plan and use it to sync my photos, will my phone still end up being full, or will it actually free up some space? I want to know if I can keep my photos on both my phone and in iCloud while managing my storage effectively. Sorry if this seems basic, I just want to make sure I get it right!
1 Answer
So, here's the deal: when you buy extra iCloud storage and turn on iCloud Photos, your iPhone uploads full-resolution photos to the cloud. What happens next is pretty cool—your phone keeps smaller versions (thumbnails) of those images, which take up way less space! If you want to really optimize storage, just turn on 'Optimize iPhone Storage' in your settings. This way, you can keep your photos on your device without hogging all the space, but you’ll need an internet connection to access the full-sized images.
Exactly! Plus, if you're ever unsure about storage, you can check your iPhone's settings to see exactly how much space each app and photo is using.