iCloud Photos allows iPhone, iPad and Mac users to store all their photos and videos in iCloud so they’re always synced and automatically backed up across all devices. However, Apple also allows users to delete the original file from the device to save storage. But how does this affect the quality of media displayed in the Photos app?
Original download or storage optimization
you iCloudPhotos There are two options in the Photos app settings: Original Downloads or Optimized Storage. The first option, as the name suggests, just backs up all your photos and videos to iCloud, but also stores all files locally on your device.
The advantage of choosing the original download is that you always have a copy of all your photos and videos at hand. This means you can see your entire photo library even if you don’t have a Wi-Fi or cellular connection. However, turning on this option can quickly fill up your device’s internal storage.
For this reason, Apple also offers storage optimization options. With this option enabled, the Photos app will eventually delete the local versions of your photos and videos from your device to save storage. This means that an internet connection may be required to open photos and videos stored in iCloud.
Your library will still appear in the Photos app, but media will only be downloaded from iCloud if you choose to open it.
Low quality preview of iCloud Photos
these days, Some users on Reddit sparked a discussion About Apple’s Photos app showing low-quality previews of media stored in iCloud Photos. This isn’t exactly a new “feature”, but it looks like Apple is actually lowering the resolution of previews (especially videos) even further if you’re not downloading local files to your device.
Previously, the Photos app would download the original image or video from iCloud if the media wasn’t available locally. However, some files, such as ProRes 4K videos and ProRAW images, are very large files, so iCloud presents users with a low-resolution version of that media.
This has both positive and negative sides. The good news is that these low-res previews download faster than the original files. This is important when a high-speed internet connection is not available.
If you really want to retrieve the original media from your photos and videos stored in iCloud, there are a few options. The first and most obvious way is[オリジナルをダウンロード]to switch to options. However, this will of course download the entire library, so you need to have enough free space on your device’s internal storage.
But if you only want the original version of a particular piece of media, there’s an easy way to force the app to download it instead of the low-res preview.[編集]With the tap or click of a button, the app downloads full-resolution media from iCloud. Then, when you exit edit mode, the original media will remain intact for some time.
When it comes to photos, simply enlarging the image may force the Photos app to download the original media so you can see all the details. Please note that the original media will be removed from the device.
Also, if you’re on a Mac,[ファイル]Click the menu and[エクスポート]>[変更されていないオリジナルをエクスポート]You can also click to export the original media. This option also ignores any edits or filters you’ve applied to the photo or video.
You can see the difference between the low resolution preview and the original media in the screenshot below (click image to enlarge).
feature request
Personally, I think Apple should add an option to let users choose whether they want to always view their iCloud Photos media in full resolution. Beyond that, we want the Photos app to allow users to keep or delete specific media from local storage.
How do you think Apple could improve the iCloud Photos experience? Let us know in the comments section below.
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