Apple has announced the discontinuation of its older service called My Photo Stream, effective from July 26.
The company is encouraging users to transition to iCloud Photos.
“If you currently use My Photo Stream, your files will remain accessible in the cloud for 30 days starting from July 26.”
The company said in an email sent to My Photo Stream users.
Apple stated, “Moving forward, iCloud Photos is the best way to keep the photos and videos you take up to date across all your devices and safely stored in iCloud.”
“While your photos and videos will not be deleted from your actual devices, they will be removed from the cloud after 30 days, starting from July 26 (i.e., August 25), and syncing will be disabled. Additionally, no new uploads will be allowed after July 26.” It stated.
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Why Apple is discontinuing the Photo Stream service
Apple stated that the new feature, iCloud Photos is clearly a more advanced choice for photo and video backups, also generating revenue for Apple through storage fees.
Apple is discontinuing it’s My Photo Stream’ service clearly due to the availability of a more modern and feature-rich cloud storage experience in iCloud Photos.
iCloud Photos offers full-resolution storage and seamless syncing across devices, making it a more convenient option for secure photo storage. With this move, Apple is encouraging users to transition to iCloudPhotos for their photo storage needs.
Limitations of Photo Stream
Apple’s Photo Stream service was a feature of iCloud introduced in 2011. It allowed users to automatically upload photos taken on their Apple devices to the cloud for seamless syncing across devices.
My Photo Stream served as a precursor to iCloud Photos, providing a free option to sync up to 1,000 photos and video clips across Apple devices and the internet.
However, it had several limitations, which made it less attractive to users. They include:
Temporary Storage: Photo Stream is designed to store your photos temporarily for 30 days or until you reach the limit of 1,000 photos, whichever comes first. After that, the photos will be automatically removed from the stream. If you want to keep your photos permanently, you should save them to your Camera Roll or iCloud Photo Library.
Limited Video Support: While Photo Stream supports photo syncing, it has limitations when it comes to videos. Only the first 5 minutes of a video are stored and synced through Photo Stream. If you have longer videos, you’ll need to transfer them using other methods like iCloud Photo Library or manually syncing through iTunes.
Not Compatible with Non-Apple Devices: Photo Stream is primarily designed for Apple devices and is not directly compatible with non-Apple devices. While you can access your Photo Stream photos on a Mac or PC through iCloud.com, it may require additional steps to download or transfer them to non-Apple devices.
No Editing or Organization: Photo Stream doesn’t offer editing or organizing features. It’s primarily focused on quickly syncing and sharing photos between devices. If you want to edit, organize, or create albums, you’ll need to use other applications or services like the Photos app or iCloud Photo Library.
Limited Storage Capacity: Photo Stream does not count against your iCloud storage limit, but it does have its own limitations. The service only keeps the most recent 1,000 photos or photos from the last 30 days. If you exceed these limits, older photos will be removed from the stream.