How did My Photo Stream differ from iCloud Photos?
Apple offered two photo-related services: My Photo Stream and iCloud Photos.
iCloud Photos, a cloud storage service for your entire photo library, replaced My Photo Stream.
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Apple discontinued My Photo Stream in July 2023.
The information in this article is for reference purposes.
Overall Findings
Stores photos for 30 days; manual backup after.
Stores up to 1,000 photos.
Supports JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and RAW file formats.
Doesn’t support video or Live Photos.
Full resolution photo storage on computers.
Files optimized to save space on iOS/iPadOS.
Stores photos and video indefinitely.
Stored media depends on storage purchased.
Supports HEIF, JPEG, RAW, PNG, GIF, TIFF, HEVC, MP4.
Stores photos, Live Photos, and videos.
Create albums to share with friends and family.
Photos and videos are stored at full resolution.
These two Apple technologies are similar in many ways.
By default, you get 5gigabytesof storage at no cost when you sign up for iCloud.
For pricing options in the United States and around the world, check out Apple’siCloud storage plans and pricing.
My Photo Stream Pros and Cons
File sizes optimized to save space on your unit.
By default, photos saved automatically.
gear syncing with same Apple ID/Apple Account.
Photo Stream deletion didn’t sync across devices.
Only stored photos for 30 days.
Supported only four file formats.
No video or Live Photos.
Users could change the default setting to have the option to upload photos manually.
iCloud Photos Pros and Cons
Stores files indefinitely.
Supports more file formats than My Photo Stream.
Supports video and Live Photos.
Full-sized photos and videos saved in iCloud.
Entire library is available from iCloud on any unit.
May have to purchase more iCloud storage.
File deletion applies to all connected devices.
File saving restricted to iCloud storage amount.
It also downloads photos to a Mac or Windows computer.
It keeps a full-sized copy of the photo or video in the cloud.
The size of your image library is limited only by the amount of iCloud storage you have.
But the prices are reasonable.
The full-sized photo stays on the server, and you keep a reduced-sized version on your equipment.
If you recently created an Apple Account, you’ll notice that My Photo Stream isn’t an option.
Luckily, iCloud Photos bundles many of the features My Photo Stream offered.
