{"id":51708,"date":"2026-04-24T10:19:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T14:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=51708"},"modified":"2026-04-24T10:19:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T14:19:03","slug":"i-regret-the-blood-pact-i-have-made-with-icloud-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/24\/i-regret-the-blood-pact-i-have-made-with-icloud-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"I Regret the Blood Pact I Have Made With iCloud Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nick Heer<\/a> (Mac Power Users Talk<\/a>):<\/p>\n

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Apple’s next iCloud tier is a generous 6 TB, but it costs another $324 per year. I could buy a new 6 TB hard disk annually for that kind of money. […] A better solution is to recognize I do not need instant access to all 95,000 photos in my library, but iCloud has no room for this kind of nuance. The iCloud syncing preference is either on<\/em> or off<\/em> for the entire library.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

So: the next best thing is to create a separate Photos library — one that will remain unsynced with iCloud. Photos makes this pretty easy by launching while holding the Option (⌥) key. But how does one move images from one library to the other? Photos is a single-window application — you cannot even open different images in new windows, let alone run separate libraries in separate windows. This should be possible, but it is not.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

As a workaround, Apple allows you to import<\/a> images from one Photos library into another — but not if the source library is synced with iCloud. You therefore need to turn off iCloud sync before proceeding, at which point you may discover that iCloud is not as dependable as you might have expected.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

I have this library stored locally and backed up, or at least I though I did. I thought I could trust iCloud to be an extra layer of insurance. What I am now realizing is that iCloud may, in fact, be a liability. The simple fact is that I have no idea the state my photos library is currently in: which photos I have in full resolution locally, which ones are low-resolution with iCloud originals, and which ones have possibly been lost.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Colin Devroe<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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I’m finally<\/em> moving away from maticulously organizing my own library and just letting photos do it and using iCloud Photo Library. I’m syncing 170,000+ items. And it says “synced” when clearly it is not finished.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n