Maccast Members 2015.05.28 - iCloud Photo Library Alternative
Introduction
- I made the leap to iCloud Photo Library and while the experience has been OK it has not been great.
- After everything had sync’d up and uploaded it seems like it’s been OK
- Still with a 112GB Photo library I had to purchase a $3.99/mo iCloud storage plan (200GB storage).
- So what are some alternatives to using iCloud Photo Library?
- I’m only looking at how to sync photos from Apple’s Photos app and your iOS devices
- Not covering alternatives to Photos and the Photo app on iOS.
Cloud Storage Options
- Many other cloud storage options are beginning to offer the ability to auto-upload images from the camera on your iOS device
- They also offer more storage at more affordable prices
- Dropbox is $9.99/mo for 1TB vs. $19.99/mo for iCloud
- OneDrive $6.99 1TB
- The trouble is there isn’t an easy way to upload images automatically from sources other than your iOS devices.
- You could possibly set up some Apple Script, folder action, or Automator, but that defeats the purpose.
- So what I went looking for needed to have some basic features
- More affordable cloud storage option than what Apple offers
- Ability to auto upload from iOS and OS X. Integrated with the built-in apps. Basically, not have to change your workflow.
- Exception here is that on iOS you may need to use a different app to view your entire library.
- Taking photos would auto-upload to cloud storage.
- Editing and organizing features.
- Privacy controls and settings.
- Web interface
- Bonus
- Syncing of edits and deletions
- Photo products (books, calendars, etc.)
- PC and Android support
Flickr and Flickr Uploadr
- Someone recommended that I take a look at the new Flickr
- I was immediately intrigued
- They are offering 1TB of cloud storage
- I have a grandfathered “Pro” account, so I get Unlimited storage for $24.95/yr.
- Free accounts have ads
- Can be disabled for $49.99/yr. ($4.17/mo)
- Flickr has apps for iOS and Android
- A desktop app called Flickr Uploadr
- On iOS you can set it up to auto-upload all photo you take on iOS to your cloud storage.
- With the Mac app it runs in the background and uploads all photos
- From iPhoto, Photos, Documents, Desktop, Downloads, Dropbox, or any other folders you specify
- Runs in the menubar
- Shows progress with what is being uploaded, not like the black hole iCloud Photo Library was.
The Experience
- So far it’s been really good.
- The upload seems to work well and is quick. I have a 16,000 photo library so it will take some time, but photos are appearing pretty much in really time across devices and online
- iCloud Photo Library was really spotty for me until the entire upload was finished.
- Any folders that are found are automatically made into Albums on Flickr
- You might want to clean up these before enabling the uploader
- Uploader will not upload duplicates
- The Flickr App UI has been updated
- Has a nice clean dark UI
- Added a ‘Camera Roll’ with all your photos that are auto uploaded
- These are sorted by date
- On the web the UI is great too
- I do wish that in Albums they had a ‘square’ thumbnail view option
- They do offer expanded and compact views
- Image editing appears to be done using Aviary
- It’s a web based editor by Adobe
- It’s pretty good, but can be slow in processing sometimes
- You get a good mix of basic and advanced editing options
- Crop, straighten, rotate
- auto-enhance, advanced controls including histogram
- auto-filters
- Editing on iOS appears to be destructive
- See no way to make a copy first or to revert to original.
- Edits do seem to sync Flickr (not back to Photos).
- The two most amazing features
- Auto-tagging (Magic view) and searching
- Not sure how the magic works, but it’s pretty accurate. There are some false matches, but overall it’s very handy
- You can use the ‘Magic View’ sorting method on the web, but not in iOS
- Does not sync deletes or edits back to Photos or vice versa. Not a complete integration
- You do have to trust Yahoo! (Flickr) with your images
- Flickr’s marking it “never delete a photo”, a la GMail I guess.
- So far i’m pretty impressed.
Closing
- Would love to know what alternatives you may be using or if you’re happy sticking with Apple’s solution.
- Any other tips/tricks for Photos and Cloud photo services.
- Give feedback at the usual spots