Apple
Apple is sunsetting its ‘My Photo Stream’ storage service
Moving forward, Apple suggests using iCloud Photos across all your devices to save and share pictures.
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Apple is finally bringing the era of My Photo Stream to a close. This iconic image-uploading feature enabled users to upload and store their photos easily.
That said, My Photo Stream has evolved into an outdated and unstable platform, causing more problems for users than benefits. As a result, Apple has ultimately decided to discontinue the decade-old service in favor of iCloud Photo Storage.
The company has officially confirmed they’re shutting it down on July 26, 2023, and any uploads using My Photo Stream will be disabled one month prior, on June 26, 2023.
“My Photo Stream is scheduled to be shut down on July 26, 2023,” the company wrote in a blog post.
As part of this transition, new photo uploads to My Photo Stream from your devices will stop one month before, on June 26, 2023. Any photos uploaded to the service before that date will remain in iCloud for 30 days from the date of upload and will be available to any of your devices where My Photo Stream is currently enabled. By July 26, 2023, there will be no photos remaining in My Photo Stream, and the service will be shut down. “
It’s a free but an unstable service
Although My Photo Storage was a free service, its end won’t surprise Apple users. The service launched alongside iCloud in 2011.
It also included a lengthy list of limitations, such as the number of photos allowed for upload and the 30-day expiry limit on Apple servers.
Another major drawback was that users had to manually save photos if they wanted to keep them on another device. The worst was that the resolution was not entirely up to par, making it difficult for users to save their photos in their original, high-quality resolution.
Saving photos was a hassle too. Factor in the platform’s instability and inability to store high-resolution photos, My Photo Stream has become the worst photo storage option.
On the other hand, iCloud’s free storage is limited to 5GB, but it has all the features of modern cloud storage. Better yet, photos and videos can be stored in their default resolutions.
Thankfully, you have options
Moving forward, Apple suggests using iCloud Photos to save and share pictures across all your devices. But if iCloud Photos isn’t for you, you still have time to find other options.
If you decide to stay with iCloud Photos, you’ll want to ensure iCloud Photos Storage is enabled on your device.
On your iPhone or iPad:
On your Mac:
By following these instructions, you’ll have successfully activated iCloud Photo Storage, allowing easy synchronization and storage of your photos and videos across all your Apple devices.
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