Backing Up Your iPhone Photos Library
HOW TO SAVE YOUR PICTURES WITHOUT LOSING YOUR MIND
It’s only been 10 years, but it feels like forever.
Ever since Kodak introduced the Brownie camera in 1900, photography has been an end-to-end manual task. We bought the film, inserted it into the camera, remembered to pack it for a day at the beach, lined everyone up against the ocean, made our 8 or 12 or 24 or 36 image roll last the day, sent the roll in for processing, ordered double prints, put one in an album and mailed the other to cousin Bob who was with us at the beach.
And the film went on the shelf, out of harm’s way.
For 115 years people did that, more or less. Photography was a deliberate process with multiple decision points along the way. And those negatives, even though we never gave them a second thought, were there. Just in case we lost those pictures or wanted more.
Even when the 21st century rolled around and everyone went digital, the workflow was pretty much the same. Images were saved to Compact Flash cards with limited space (15 megabytes; really?). They got downloaded to a computer. Printed out. And so on. The original iPhone was just a camera. Had to connect to your iMac, import, and delete to make room for more pictures.
Then in 2015 Apple upgraded the one-way camera-like workflow of iPhoto by introducing Apple Photos/iCloud Photos Library that handled all of those tasks in a click and a swipe. Even saved Optimized versions back to your iPhone. Photos were transferred automatically to other devices. Multiple instances of the same photos. Over a century of photo habits right out the window.
It was a bold idea. And in the beginning, with the iPhone favored by devout Apple users, the ecosystem worked well as intended. The Photos Library was automatically backed up to an Apple computer which was backed up to Time Machine. The elegant Apple Photos ecosystem.
But the success of the iPhone has changed the equation. Industry estimates put the global use of iPhones at over 1.5 billion, versus around 100 million Macs in service. Those are iPhone users taking photos and videos who can’t use the Apple Photos ecosystem for backup and redundancy at all. And that doesn’t even consider Apple users who could be using iCloud to back up but aren’t, for one reason or another.
That’s over a billion people who are just one accident/theft/deletion/hardware failure/lost password away from losing all their photos.
Think about that.
The great thing about the iPhone is that it is so capable on its own that it’s replaced a computer for many people. But that means they have no easy place to back up to. And because it’s always with us, out in the world, our iPhones are at risk every day along with the photos and other data on them.
There’s also the reality that the whole nature of photography has changed. Yes, we still have plenty of those precious life moments that make us smile and share, but they get progressively buried among photos of product labels and parking spots. When I talk with people about their photo collections the prevailing emotion is “overwhelm,” not “priceless.” Until they’re lost.
Which makes it natural that backing up photos isn’t really top of mind. People come less and less from a photography background, and they haven’t (yet) lived through the hassle of a lost or locked photo collection. And in a world where we assume everything is in the cloud, we aren’t as nervous as we should be.
So if you or someone you know is flirting with photo loss, here are some actions you can take today.
At it’s simplest, a photo backup is nothing more that a copy of your pictures somewhere separate from your iPhone or other device. Photos are basically just files that contain images, like Word documents contain text. They can be copied or moved or shared. In general, you want to work with them in a photo-aware application like Apple Photos, Adobe Lightroom, or Mylio Photos that offers additional organization and viewing options, but they can be stored in a folder on a hard drive as well. For basic backup purposes, we mostly care about the existence, not the features.
In order of simplicity, you should look at these options first.
• iCloud Backup - Everyone with an iPhone has an Apple Account with access to your own iCloud Drive. Sync up your Photos Library to iCloud (and back up your whole iPhone there while you’re at it) and get those photos saved to iCloud Photos Library. You will probably have to pay for some space, but just do it. That will give you a month to figure out another system if you want, but in the meantime you’re covered. Be aware that iCloud saves a mirror of what’s on your iPhone. If you delete photos or videos on your iPhone they will also be deleted in iCloud. That’s intentional. But it’s simple, clean, automatic security for your Photos Library. If your iPhone gets broken or stolen, you could replace all the data from iCloud. That’s not nothing.
• A Mac photo hub - Maybe you have an old Mac that you don’t use much. If so, you can probably also sync it up to iCloud and complete the loop. Then all your Photos get synced to the Mac and it can even be backed up to Time Machine. This is the system that Apple designed and it works great. And in both this scenario and iCloud only, you preserve all the photo features (Live Photo, Albums, People recognition, etc.) that exist on your iPhone.
• Direct Copy - If you connect your iPhone directly to a Mac or PC those devices will see it as a camera and you can copy off photos as a backup. Both Mac’s and PC’s have photo and transfer apps that can help you do this. You could even do this with someone else’s Mac or PC in a pinch. In this case you are just copying photo files, not the Apple Photos experience.
• Copy to Hard Drive - Newer iPhones can connect directly to a hard drive or SSD and save your images in a folder setup. This is like Direct Copy with without the computer.
These are just basic options to help you make sure your photos are safe and secure. Starting points. The message is that digital photos need some attention. If handled thoughtfully they will give us a lifetime of enjoyment and keep old memories fresh. Living in a mobile digital world we need to learn the ins and outs of how to care for our pictures/memories and recognize that our iPhones aren’t really standalone devices. They need something to back up to.
It’s also important to note that backing up is not just a one time task. It needs to be updated as you add new photos and make changes. This is where the Apple Photos ecosystem shines because it does that automatically.
And a note for those who are already using the Apple Photos ecosystem to keep their photos safe, there is one other hedge you can take against photo loss.
• Set up recovery methods - Apple lets you set up a Recovery Key so that should a password be forgotten, a trusted person can get a key to unlock the Apple Account. You can also set up a Legacy contact who can gain access in the event of a death.
These are essential, proactive steps to take before they’re needed. I often see pleas from relatives of someone with memory loss or who has passed, and their Apple Account with photos, contacts, and documents is unavailable because no one knows the password.
As it happens, September is designated Save Your Photos Month by The Photo Managers, a global organization that provides information and support about preserving your photo legacy. So if you want more in-depth information, you can find talks and related material at: https://thephotomanagers.com/save-your-photos-month/
Also, if you are uncertain whether you have a photo backup in place or would like some help creating a strategy, you can work with me by booking a free 15 minute consultation here:
If you are looking for some help with your photos, here are 2 ways you can work with me:
The New Apple Photos Layout - If you are overwhelmed by the new Apple Photos on your iPhone or iPad, you will love my new course -
FIND YOUR PHOTOS FAST: How to Use the New Apple Photos on iPhone.
10 short videos take you through the new features and how to customize it to suit your style. Check it out HERE.
I do online consults with every day Photos users worldwide. Anything picture related on the Apple platform and a little more. I've helped thousands of people with their every day photography needs. No judgement. No jargon. Get your photos organized and backed up safely.