Apple has announced that it will be removing the My Photo Stream feature from iPhones next month. My Photo Stream is an album that automatically stores the user’s photos from the past 30 days. Introduced in 2011, it allowed for the uploading of up to 1,000 photos across all devices. However, as of June 26, new photo uploads to My Photo Stream have ceased, and the entire album will be permanently deleted on July 26.
To ensure that photos are not permanently deleted, users will need to save the contents of My Photo Stream on their devices. For example, if a photo was taken on a phone and the user wants it to be saved on a Mac or iPad, they will need to access My Photo Stream in the Photos app and save the photo to that specific device.
Apple recommends that users transition to iCloud Photos, especially for those who have iCloud+ subscriptions, as it provides ample storage space in the cloud. However, users of the free version may be more affected and could run out of memory. iCloud Photos is touted as the best way to keep photos and videos synchronized across devices and securely stored in iCloud.
To ensure that iCloud Photos is enabled, users can check the settings on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac. On an iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > your name > iCloud, and on a Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click on your name, and then click iCloud. It is important to verify that “Photos” is enabled on each device to ensure synchronization.