Do you know the frustration of looking for a photo on your computer only to realize it's on your phone? Or trying to show someone a picture from your vacation only to retrieve yous took that pic with your DSLR camera, so it's on your calculator at home? It'south this exact pain point that Apple tried to convalesce with My Photo Stream.

What is My Photo Stream?

Call back of information technology every bit a feed of all your nigh contempo photos. With the exception of Alive Photos, My Photo Stream automatically uploads 1,000 pics from the final xxx days from each of your devices. So regardless of which device you're using, your latest photos are on it.

iCloud Photo Library vs. My Photo Stream

You might be wondering what the divergence is between iCloud Photograph Library (iCloud Photos in iOS 12) and My Photo Stream. While they offer similar functionality, information technology's best to think of Photo Stream as a means of syncing pictures between devices, whereas iCloud Photo Library is more akin to a backup for your photos.

iCloud Photo Library tends to be a little more robust than My Photo Stream. Information technology'due south not limited by the number of files and can go on photos for longer than 30 days. It also supports a broader array of file formats for photos, as well as Alive Photos and videos.

I'm sure at this bespeak you're asking yourself why you'd even carp with Photograph Stream over iCloud. Let me quickly bring up one betoken about My Photo Stream: information technology'due south free. That's right, anyone with an Apple tree ID has access to it without requiring any additional cloud storage.

In other words, both accept their benefits, and each serves a specific purpose. My Photo Stream is just a nimble way to access your recent photos on all your devices.

What's the difference between Camera Roll and My Photo Stream?

The simplest way to explain the difference between your Camera Roll and Photograph Stream is that your Photographic camera Curlicue is where all the pictures you've taken with your iPhone are, whereas My Photograph Stream syncs only the virtually contempo ones, so you tin can access them on other devices.

Does My Photograph Stream employ iCloud storage?

Unlike iCloud Photo Library, My Photo Stream doesn't employ whatsoever iCloud storage. It does, yet, take upward space on the devices information technology syncs with, which is why at that place is a limitation of only 1,000 pictures and just from the last 30 days.

How to use My Photo Stream on iPhone and Mac

The beauty of My Photo Stream is that in one case yous plough it on on each of your devices, you lot're all ready. My Photograph Stream automatically uploads your photos, so there'due south no additional thought or action required from you. You tin gear up it and forget it!

Before you lot upload to My Photograph Stream

At present that y'all know Photo Stream is limited to only 1,000 most contempo photos, yous should be smart most what y'all're uploading. The last matter yous want is to waste that limited corporeality on dozens of only slightly dissimilar shots from the trip you lot took concluding weekend.

So before you turn on My Photo Stream, have a few minutes to clean up your Photographic camera Roll with Gemini Photos for iPhone. It helps you chop-chop find and delete unneeded similar photos, so that but the best ones get in to My Photograph Stream. Gemini Photos also detects blurred shots, screenshots yous may no longer demand, and other clutter.

Here's how y'all delete similar photos on your iPhone:

  1. Download Gemini Photos from the App Store
  2. Launch it to browse your Photos library
  3. Go to Similar. Similar photos will be grouped and pre-selected, with the best photo in each group remaining.
  4. Review a grouping of pics and tap the Trash icon to remove selected
  5. Repeat for other sets of like pics and tap Delete at the bottom

That's it! Merely similar that you've got an organized photo library that's ready for My Photo Stream.

How to switch on My Photo Stream

With your photo collections all cleaned up, let's become ahead and turn on My Photo Stream. We'll become through how to practice this on both your iPhone and Mac. On your iPhone:

  1. Open Settings on your iPhone.
  2. Tap on your Apple ID business relationship
  3. Go to iCloud > Photos
  4. Turn on the switch Upload to My Photo Stream
Screenshots: How to switch off My Photo Stream on iPhone

On your Mac:

  1. Open the Photos app
  2. Click Photos in the menu bar
  3. Get to Preferences > iCloud
  4. Check the box for My Photo Stream

How to turn off My Photo Stream

If y'all decide Photo Stream isn't working out for you, you can turn it off without deleting any photos from your iPhone or Mac. Turning off My Photo Stream on one device does non turn information technology off on all of them, and then this is a process y'all'll take to do on each connected device.

Follow the steps below to plough off My Photograph Stream on iPhone:

  1. Get to Settings
  2. Tap on your Apple tree ID business relationship
  3. Select iCloud and and so Photos
  4. Turn off the toggle for My Photo Stream

And this is how you switch it off on Mac:

  1. Open up the Photos app
  2. Become to Photos > Preferences > iCloud from the menu bar
  3. Uncheck the box for My Photo Stream

Why is My Photo Stream not updating?

If yous cheque out your Photo Stream and it looks similar information technology's non updating, hither are a couple of things that may be causing the issue.

  • My Photo Stream doesn't update over cellular. On iPhone, My Photo Stream only uploads when connected to Wi-Fi. On Mac, information technology requires a Wifi or Ethernet connection.
  • Check your battery. To conserve power, My Photo Stream terminate syncing if the device'south bombardment drops beneath xx%.
  • Make sure Photo Stream is turned on on each device.Just because you have it on on your iPhone doesn't hateful information technology's turned on on your Mac.
  • Make sure y'all're using the same Apple ID. My Photograph Stream only syncs with the Apple ID information technology'southward connected to, so cheque if you're logged in with the aforementioned Apple ID on all your devices.

Now that you've got the basics of My Photograph Stream covered, information technology's time to examination it out. Take all the pictures yous want and endeavour syncing them between your iPhone, your Mac, your iPad, what have you. Once you take Photo Stream all prepare, you can snap photos abroad, knowing that when y'all get back to your Mac, your new pics will already be there.