What is Apple’s My Photo Stream and why is it shutting down?
APPLE announced that they are shutting down a photo sharing feature on all iOS devices.
The My Photo Stream feature will cease to exist soon, read on to find out more.
What is My Photo Stream?
My Photo Stream is a free feature on Apple devices that syncs up to 1000 images from the last 30 days between devices.
This service dates all the way back to 2011.
It was supposed to make your photos easily accessible across any Apple device you had.
My Photo Stream existed before iCloud photos which have mostly replaced this service.
My Photo Stream had the added bonus of not eating into your iCloud storage space.
Considering Apple only give 5GB of free iCloud space, My Photo Stream was a useful feature to help save that free space.
Although, the feature does not upload high-quality photos that most expect in 2023.
The service is set to shut down for good on July 26, 2023.
On its support page, Apple says it will stop uploading photos to My Photo Stream from June 26, 2023.
Apple said: “Any photos uploaded to the service before that date will remain in iCloud for 30 days from the date of upload and will be available to any of your devices where My Photo Stream is currently enabled
“By July 26, 2023, there will be no photos remaining in iCloud, and the service will be shut down.”
What is My Photo Stream used for?
My Photo Stream is used by Apple customers to access the last 30 days worth of photos on more than one device.
This is so it is easier for Apple customers to download their images from one device to the other.
So photos taken on an iPhone in a 30 day period will be shared with an iPad or MacBook before disappearing.
The original photo will remain on the iPhone after the 30 day period, so you don’t lose your images.
Why is Apple shutting down My Photo Stream?
In 2014 Apple launched the iCloud Photos feature on their devices.
This feature was slightly superior to the My Photo Stream feature as Apple users could upload videos with iCloud Photos.
Also, the quality of the images uploaded to iCloud photos is of a higher quality than My Photo Stream.
The introduction of iCloud Photos mostly replaced the My Photo Stream service.
What will replace My Photo Stream?
With the announcement of the end of My Photo Stream, there was no mention of a specific replacement.
The iCloud Photos feature silently replaced My Photo Stream when it was released in 2014.
iCloud Photos is a similar feature to My Photo Stream, except iCloud Photos uploads your pictures and videos permanently, not just for 30 days.