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Need help understanding syncing and backing up

SgtSpike

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When I heard about the new wireless sync feature on the 4S, I was really excited. I thought it meant I could have my phone automatically copy any photos/videos taken during the day onto my computer at night. So far, that has not proven to be the case. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, so that's why I am here.

Right now, I can sync my phone with my computer, but no pictures are backed up. I tried checking the "Sync Photos" box in iTunes, but all that did was put all of the pictures from my computer onto my phone - not copy the phone pictures onto my computer, which is my goal. I also tried "backup", but that simply creates a bunch of unusable files deep within the AppData folder. Finally, I tried the iCloud, but after logging in at iCloud.com, I can't find any photos there either - just contacts, calender, mail, etc.

So am I doing something wrong, or is the wireless sync really not meant to make photos available to users on other devices? I've used up 2.5GB on iCloud with just one sync, so I know photos/videos are being backed up, but I just can't access them anywhere. It seems really silly that backups of the photos are being made, but I can't access them.

Also, I do have Photo Stream turned to "On" in the iCloud settings.
 
If you are on Windows, I can not help.

If you are on OSX, you need to download the new iPhoto 9.3 which has the iCloud photo stream built in.
 
Also, I just saw this in the iCloud help documentation:

First, set up Photo Stream on any device that you want to be part of your Photo Stream.

Then, take a photo with your iOS device, or import photos from your digital camera to your Mac, iPad, or Windows computer.

Photo Stream automatically uploads the photos to iCloud, and then downloads them to your other devices (via Wi-Fi or Ethernet).

The photos appear in your Photo Stream on each device: in the Photos app on your iOS devices; in iPhoto or Aperture on a Mac; or in the Pictures folder on a Windows computer.

So it definitely sounds like I'm not doing something right, as I SHOULD have a way to access my photos and video from my computer, but I just can't figure out how!
 
I am on a Windows machine. Can't stand using OSX. ;)
 
I am on a Windows machine. Can't stand using OSX. ;)

LOL. I switched to OSX in May. I run Windows 7 in Parallels 24/7 because I can't stand how text editing works under OSX. So I feel your pain on that one :)
 
LOL. I switched to OSX in May. I run Windows 7 in Parallels 24/7 because I can't stand how text editing works under OSX. So I feel your pain on that one :)
Haha, yeah I owned a MBP for all of two weeks before reselling it. The back-lit keyboard and slot-load DVD drive were cool, but didn't like anything else about it.

Anyway, I think I found my answer reading through more of the iCloud documentation. It sounds like I have to download iCloud onto my computer, then use the control panel item to change settings and check the "photo stream" box. That should auto-download all of my pictures & videos onto my computer.

My main concern now is storage space on iCloud. With only 5 GB, it'll fill up fast. I can clear everything from the photostream with the click of a button, but I'll have to remember to do that from time to time or I might miss pictures getting downloaded onto my computer. Hmmm.... maybe iCloud will auto-delete the oldest photos to make room for newer ones? That'd be nice.

So, Skull One, thanks for the conversation anyway. ;)

EDIT: Just realized that photo stream does not do videos. BOO. :(
 
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iCloud uses a queue system of 1000 photos or 30 days old. Which ever it hits first is what rolls out for new photos. And iCloud has the option of adding more space at a cost.
 
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