Keep reading, as this article will answer those questions. Plus, we’ll reveal even more tricks that make it as easy to delete many photos from your iPhone as it is to delete one.

How to delete photos from your iPhone

If you’re trying to clean up your photo library on your iPhone, it’s going to take you a long time to go through and delete individual pictures one at a time. Here are some tips for cleaning up the photo library on your iPhone.

How to delete all photos from your iPhone at once

Although there’s no native way to delete all of your photos at one time, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. While our very own app, Gemini Photos, is primarily used to find duplicate pictures, it has a hidden feature that will help you out.

Here’s how to delete all photos from your iPhone or iPad using Gemini Photos:

1. Download Gemini Photos from the App Store.
2. Open the app and tap the Menu button in the top right.
3. Tap Delete Photo Library at the very bottom.
4. Tap Delete to confirm.
5. In the Photos app, scroll down to Recently Deleted.
6. Tap Select > Delete All.

How to delete duplicates and other redundant pictures from iPhone

Maybe you’re just looking for a way to quickly clean up your photos by deleting the duplicates and similar-looking pictures on your phone. If so, you can download Gemini Photos from the App Store and follow these steps:

1. Open Gemini Photos and let it scan.
2. Tap Duplicates.
3. Go through each grouping to select the pics you want to delete.
4. When you’re done, tap the Delete Duplicates button at the bottom.
5. Tap Your Library to go through other categories like Similar, Blurred, Notes, etc.

How to mass-remove thousands of photos from your iPhone

While deleting photos in bulk isn’t impossible, it may take some time — especially if you want to be selective about which pictures you remove. But you can follow these steps to help speed up your batch-deleting:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap Library > All Photos.
3. Tap the ellipses > Zoom Out.
4. Tap Select.
5. Instead of tapping each picture, touch the first picture and drag your finger to the top of the screen. This will select all of the photos along the way.
6. After you’re done selecting all the pictures, tap the trash can icon in the bottom-right corner.

If there are specific pictures you want to deselect, just tap those photos to uncheck them.

How to delete photos from your iPhone but not from iCloud

Before you start deleting your pictures en masse, it’s important to keep in mind that in some cases, anything you delete from your iPhone will also be deleted from iCloud. So, if you want to free up space on your phone without losing those pics forever, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap Photos.
3. Turn iCloud Photos off.

Once iCloud Photos is turned off, deleting a picture will only remove it from your iPhone.

How to permanently delete pictures from your iPhone

A common misconception is that when you delete photos, they’re gone from your iPhone forever. However, that’s not true — at least, not for 30 days. Anytime you delete a picture, it remains on your phone in the Recently Deleted album for a 30-day period. So, to permanently delete pictures from your iPhone, follow these steps:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap Albums > Recently Deleted > Select All.
3. At the bottom, tap Delete All.

Why can’t I delete photos on my iPhone?

In some cases, you may try to delete photos, only to discover that your iPhone won’t let you. Here are three of the common reasons why this can happen.

1. You synced the photos from your computer

If you add pictures to your iPhone by connecting it to your computer, you can’t delete them on your iPhone. Instead, you have to choose to not sync that particular photo the next time you sync your devices.

2. The pictures are in a Shared Album

One of the downsides to Shared Albums is that if you’re not the creator of an album, you can only delete the pictures you add to it. If you try to delete a photo you didn’t add, the trash can icon is grayed out.

3. Photo Stream is turned on

Perhaps you deleted a picture on your iPhone, but it’s still showing up in your Photos app. That could be because you have Photo Stream turned on. Even after you delete a picture from your Camera Roll, you’ll still need to go into your Photo Stream and remove it from there, too.

How to delete photos from iCloud

If you’re signed in to iCloud when you add or remove a photo on your iPhone, Apple will automatically add or remove it on iCloud, too. But you might find yourself in a situation where you want to delete a picture only from iCloud or simply locate a picture that’s still on iCloud but no longer on your phone. Here are a couple of tricks for managing your photos on iCloud.

Where to find deleted photos on iCloud

If you deleted a photo from iCloud but have since changed your mind about it, you may still be able to recover the photo from the Recently Deleted album. To find deleted photos on iCloud:

1. Open Safari and go to iCloud.com.
2. Log in with your iCloud account.
3. Tap Photos > Albums > Recently Deleted.
4. Find the photo you accidentally removed.
5. Tap Recover.

How to permanently delete photos from iCloud

Like the Photos app on your iPhone, when you delete a picture from iCloud, it doesn’t immediately disappear. Rather, it survives in your Recently Deleted album for up to 30 days. You can, however, follow these steps to permanently delete a photo without the wait:

1. In Safari, go to iCloud.com.
2. Log in with your iCloud account.
3. Tap Photos > Albums > Recently Deleted.
4. At the top, tap Select > Select All > Delete.

How to delete pictures from iCloud but not from your iPhone

Deleting pictures from iCloud without removing them from your phone requires two steps: turning off iCloud Photos and deleting the images. Follow these instructions to turn off iCloud Photos:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap Photos.
3. Toggle iCloud Photos off.

If you have the option set to Optimize iPhone Storage, it’s likely that not all of your pictures are currently downloaded to your iPhone. In any case, make sure you have the Download and Keep Originals option selected. That way, your entire photo library will remain on your phone even after you turn off iCloud Photos.

Next, follow these steps to remove a picture from iCloud.

1. In Safari, go to iCloud.com.
2. Log in with your iCloud account.
3. Tap Photos and select the picture you want to delete.
4. Tap the trash can icon.

Whether you’re trying to purge your photo library or just want to free up a little space, batch-deleting pictures is a great solution. Trying to remove photos one by one is going to take a lot longer than it’s worth. Hopefully, this article has provided you with some tips to help you feel confident when deleting pictures from your iPhone and iCloud.

The post How to delete photos from iPhone, iPad, and iCloud: Tricks you didn’t know appeared first on Backlight.

Duplicates and similar-looking photos can waste a lot of space in your photo library if you’re not careful. This article goes over how to locate and dispose of duplicate photos. Plus, we’ll share some other tips and tricks on how to keep your library clutter-free.

How to find and delete duplicate photos on iPhone

While manually searching for duplicate and similar photos is one way to clean up your library, it isn’t the only way. Below, we’ll share how to clean up your duplicates manually, how to purge similar photos in Google Photos and iCloud, and — the easiest option — how to delete duplicates using the app Gemini Photos.

How to remove duplicate iPhone photos using Gemini Photos

Gemini Photos not only scans your iPhone for duplicate photos but also identifies things like similar images, blurry photos, and even screenshots. Here’s how to use Gemini Photos to clean up your photo clutter:

1. Download Gemini Photos from the App Store.
2. Open the app and let it scan.
3. Tap on one of the categories, such as Duplicates.
4. Select a group of pictures to review, then decide which individual photos you want to delete.
5. After you’re done selecting, tap Delete Duplicates at the bottom of the screen.
6. Tap Delete to confirm. 

It’s important to remember that even after you delete your pictures with Gemini Photos, they’re still on your phone. To permanently delete them:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap Albums > Recently Deleted.
3. Tap Select > Delete All.

How to delete duplicate photos manually in Photos

Of course, you can always manually search for duplicates on your iPhone. This process is self-explanatory, but there are a couple of tricks you can use in the Photos app to help you find them:

• View by date: In the Photos app, tap Library > All Photos at the bottom to view your pictures in chronological order, which will help you spot the similar photos and duplicates as you scroll through.
• Sort by location: You can also sort your pictures by geographic location. At the bottom, tap Search and scroll down to Places.

To remove the duplicates when you find them:

1. Tap Select.
2. Choose the pictures you want to delete.
3. Tap the trash can icon in the bottom-right corner and select Delete Photo.

How to remove duplicate photos from iCloud

Maybe you have some duplicate pictures on iCloud. The good news is you can use Gemini Photos to help you clean those up, too. The same instructions apply, but you’ll need to ensure that you have iCloud Photos turned on, on your iPhone. Here’s how you turn on iCloud Photos:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Photos.
3. Toggle the slider to turn on iCloud Photos.

How to delete duplicates in Google Photos

If you’re using Google Photos, you can search through your photos manually, or you can use the Search feature to help you find specific groups of pictures. To search for duplicates in Google Photos, just follow these steps:

1. In Google Photos, tap Search.
2. In the Search bar at the top, type a keyword to identify the pics you’re looking for (e.g., zebra).
3. Tap and hold the pictures you want to delete.
4. After you’ve selected all the images, tap the trash can icon at the top.
5. Tap Move to Trash > Delete.

How to prevent duplicate photos on your iPhone

Now that you have all the duplicates and clutter removed from your photo library, you may be wondering how you can prevent more duplicates in the future. Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind.

Tip 1. Sync photos using only one method

There are a couple of ways to sync your photos across all your devices. For example, you can use iCloud Photos or connect your phone to your computer with a USB cable. Whatever your preferred method for syncing your iPhone, sync it that way — and only that way. Syncing from both your computer and your cloud accounts can mean you upload the same photos multiple times.

Tip 2. Turn off auto-downloads in third-party apps like WhatsApp

Some third-party apps like WhatsApp will automatically download pictures and videos to your phone. So if you manually save an image you’ve been sent, you will end up with multiple copies of it in the Photos app. To turn off auto-downloads, just follow these steps:

1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Tap Settings > Data and Storage Usage > Photos.
3. Choose Never.

Tip 3. Transfer all photos from your DSLR camera at the same time

Newer DSLR cameras allow you to transfer pictures to your phone over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. If you only import a couple of photos at a time, you leave room for a mistake the next time you transfer pictures. You might accidentally sync the same photos twice, creating copies of your pictures on your iPhone.

The cleanest way to transfer pictures from a DSLR camera is to import all of the photos to your iPhone and then wipe the card. This way, you can’t accidentally import the same images a second time.

Tip 4. Don’t use AirDrop with iCloud Photos turned on

If you have multiple Apple devices with iCloud Photos turned on, don’t transfer pictures between devices using AirDrop. It’s tempting to use AirDrop when your photos aren’t syncing quickly enough, but the result will be duplicates of the same photos. A little patience here will save you some headaches later. 

Tip 5. Use Shared Albums

When you go to an event with friends or family, everyone typically shares the pictures they took. Instead of emailing photos or texting them to each other, it’s best to keep a Shared album. That way, all your shared photos live in the Photos app. And you don’t have to worry about going back to find them or saving them again, accidentally creating duplicates. 

Does iCloud recognize duplicate photos?

If you have multiple devices trying to sync the same picture, iCloud will recognize it as a duplicate. But if you have copies saved on your iPhone, then iCloud will upload both versions of the photo. 

Duplicates happen to everyone. Especially if you’re using your iPhone as your primary camera. The more you practice your iPhone photography, the more likely you are to fill up your library with similar-looking photos and duplicates. But if you apply some of these tricks and regularly scan for duplicates with Gemini Photos, you can prevent your photo library from filling up with clutter, optimizing your iPhone’s storage space.

The post How to delete and prevent duplicate photos on your iPhone appeared first on Backlight.

What is the HEIC format, and why does iPhone take HEIC photos?

HEIC is Apple’s proprietary version of the HEIF or High-Efficiency Image File format. This newer file format is intended to be a better way to save your pictures, making your images smaller in terms of data while retaining high quality.

Is HEIC better than JPG?

Yes, HEIC is better than JPG in many ways — specifically, in its ability to compress pictures into a small file size without losing image quality. The sticking point is the issue of what apps and devices also support HEIC. While more developers are adopting HEIC every day, it’s still not as commonly accepted as the tried-and-true standard, JPG.

How to set your iPhone to stop taking HEIC photos

Thankfully, if dealing with HEIC photos becomes too much of a hassle, you can have your iPhone camera stop taking HEIC pics by following these steps:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap Camera > Formats.
3. Select Most Compatible.

How to send photos from your iPhone as JPG, not HEIC

Another option you have is to keep shooting pictures as HEIC but to share them as JPGs. Here’s how to automatically convert a HEIC file to JPG when you share it from your iPhone:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Photos.
3. Scroll down to the Transfer to Mac or PC section.
4. Choose Automatic. 

How to convert HEIC to JPG or PNG on a Mac

If you’ve transferred some pictures from your iPhone and now have a handful of HEIC photos on your Mac, don’t worry. Before you delete those pics and transfer them from your phone again, check out a few of the apps that can open HEIC files. And if the app you want to use doesn’t support HEIC, there are a couple of easy ways to convert those files to JPG format.

What apps can open an HEIC file?

Naturally, any app created and supported by Apple will open HEIC files. This includes apps like Preview, Photos, and iMovie, etc. Other apps like Adobe Photoshop will open HEIC files on Mac only, while Adobe Lightroom will let you import a HEIC, although it will automatically convert the file to a JPG.

How to convert HEIC to JPG or PNG using Preview

One of the easiest ways to convert an HEIC to a JPG on Mac is to use the Preview app:

1. Open the HEIC file in Preview.
2. Click File > Export.
3. From the Format drop-down menu, select either JPG or PNG.
4. Click Save.

How to change HEIC to JPG or PNG using Photos

Another straightforward way to convert your picture from HEIC to JPEG or PNG is with your Mac’s Photos app. Just follow these steps to convert your picture:

1. Open the Photos app and find the file you want to convert.
2. Select the file.
3. Click File > Export > Export Photo.
4. Choose JPG or PNG from the Photo Kind drop-down menu.
5. Click Export.
6. Select the location where you want to save your picture and click Export.

How to convert HEIC to JPG on a Windows computer

Opening and viewing a HEIC file on a Windows computer is a bit trickier. For now, the options are limited. (As time goes on, more apps will allow you to open those pictures or, at the very least, help you convert them to JPG files.)

What software can open HEIC on Windows?

Microsoft has released a codec called HEIF Image Extensions, which will allow you to view and open HEIC files. Once you have it installed, your computer will see HEIC photos just like any other image file. But the codec is only available for Windows 10, so if you’re running an older operating system, then you’ll need to use one of the apps below to convert your pictures.

How to convert iPhone HEIC to JPG using CopyTrans HEIC for Windows

When you install CopyTrans HEIC for Windows on your computer, it also installs an extension that will allow you to not only open HEIC files but convert them to JPG as well. After you have it installed, just follow these steps:

1. Find the HEIC photo you want to convert on your computer.
2. Right-click and select Convert to JPEG with CopyTrans.

The JPG copy of your picture will appear in the same folder. That’s all there is to it! 

How to change the HEIC format to JPG using iMazing HEIC Converter

Another easy-to-use app is iMazing HEIC Converter. There’s a bit more of an interface to this one, and you gain additional control over your conversion settings. When you have iMazing HEIC Converter downloaded and installed, this is how you convert your HEIC files:

1. Open iMazing HEIC Converter.
2. Drag and drop your pictures into the app.
3. Choose whether you want to convert to JPG or PNG.
4. Drag to set the Quality slider.
5. Click Convert.
6. Select where you want to save the JPG on your computer.
7. Click Ok.

While dealing with HEIC files may be annoying, remember they do serve a purpose. They optimize the size of your pictures while retaining image quality. So, if you can bring yourself to leave your photos as HEIC, it will be in your best interest — especially in the long term. But the good news is, there are a handful of ways to quickly and easily convert your pictures to JPG format.

The post What is HEIC, and how do you convert iPhone photos from HEIC to JPG? appeared first on Backlight.

Step 1. Declutter iPhone photos before you organize them

Every photo library is filled with clutter, so before you spend a ton of time wading through that mess, you should get rid of the junk you don’t want. And the good news is that you can use Gemini Photos to scan your pictures and quickly get rid of that clutter. The app looks for things like duplicates, screenshots, notes, blurry pictures, and even similar-looking photos.

Download Gemini Photos from the App Store, open it on your iPhone, and follow these steps to clean up your library.

Similar-looking pictures

1. Tap Similar. Your pictures will be grouped by Date or Event.
2. Click on a grouping. Gemini will auto-select the best pictures.
3. Review the selection and tap Move to Trash for each set.
4. When you’re done, tap Empty Trash and then tap Delete to confirm.

Duplicates

1. Tap Duplicates. Gemini Photos will locate all the duplicates in your Camera Roll.
2. Tap each set of duplicates to review them.
3. After you’ve gone through them all, tap Delete Duplicates at the bottom of the screen.
4. Tap Delete to confirm.

Videos

1. Tap Videos. Gemini Photos will show you all of the videos in your library with how much space they’re taking up.
2. Swipe up on a video to keep it, or swipe down on it to delete it.
3. Tap Empty Trash at the bottom.

Screenshots

1. Tap Screenshots. Gemini Photos will auto-select all of your screenshot photos.
2. Tap to uncheck the ones you want to keep.
3. At the bottom of the screen, tap Delete All and then Delete.

Notes

1. Tap Notes. The app will scan your photos for pictures of whiteboards or notebooks and group them together.
2. Tap to check the pics you want to get rid of.
3. Tt the bottom, tap Delete All when you’re finished.

Blurred

1. Tap Blurred to review all of the pics Gemini Photos found that are blurry.
2. Select the pictures you don’t want to keep.
3. Tap Delete All and then tap Delete to confirm.

Other

1. Tap Other to review the pictures that don’t fit into the above categories. Your pictures will be grouped by date.
2. Tap on one of the months.
3. Swipe up on a picture to keep it, or swipe down on it to delete the photo.
4. After you’ve gone through all of these images, tap Empty Trash at the bottom.

When you’re finished cleaning out your library, don’t forget to open your Photos app and tap Albums > Recently Deleted > Select > Delete All to remove those pictures from your iPhone. Otherwise, they’ll remain on your device, taking up space for the next 30 days.

Step 2. Delete iPhone photo albums you don’t need

When you go into the Album tab in the Photos app on your iPhone, you may notice some old albums you don’t want anymore or even some albums created by other apps (like Whatsapp or Snapchat). If you’re not using these albums, it’s best to get rid of them so that they’re not cluttering up your phone and making it harder to find the albums you want to use.

How to delete an album on iPhone

Deleting an album is simple to do directly on your iPhone. Just follow these steps:

1. Open the Photos app and tap Albums at the bottom.
2. At the top, next to My Albums, tap See All.
3. Tap Edit.
4. Tap the red minus button next to the album(s) you want to delete.
5. When you’re finished, tap Done.

How do I delete the Favorites album?

Unfortunately, there is no way to delete your Favorites album. This is one of the stock albums that is automatically created by the Photos app, and like the Recents album, Favorites can’t be moved, renamed, or deleted.

Does deleting a photo album delete the photos in it?

The quick answer is no. Deleting an album only deletes the album, not the pictures inside of it. If you want to delete the pictures as well, you can follow these steps:

1. In Photos, open the album.
2. Tap Select > Select All.
3. Tap the trash can icon in the bottom-right corner.

Now, you can delete the album following the steps mentioned in the section above.

Step 3. Put photos in a hidden album on iPhone (optional)

If you have sensitive or private photos you want to keep but don’t necessarily want them in your Camera Roll, one option is to hide the pictures. You can also create a hidden album where all of your hidden photos will live.

How to create a Hidden album on iPhone

Your Hidden album will only appear if you have opted to hide a picture. This is how you’d hide a photo:

1. In the Photos app, find the image you want to hide and tap it.
2. Tap the Share icon in the bottom right.
3. Scroll down and tap Hide.

How to add new photos to the Hidden album

After you hide one photo, a Hidden album will be created, and you can add more pictures to it. Just follow these steps to add new images to your album.

1. Tap the Library tab at the bottom of the Photos app.
2. Tap Select and tap each picture you want to add.
3. Hit the Share icon in the bottom right corner and then tap Hide.

Where to find the Hidden album

With iOS 14, Apple has made the Hidden album a little more — hidden. Before you can find the Hidden album under the Albums tab, you have to enable it first.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Photos.
3. Toggle to Enable Hidden.

Now, you can go back to the Photos app and tap Albums > Hidden to view all of your sensitive pictures.

Step 4. Organize your photos into relevant albums

If you have thousands of photos in your library, scrolling through your Camera Roll might not be the most efficient way to find your pictures. Organizing them into albums helps you find the photos you’re looking for a lot more quickly.

How to add photos to the Favorites album

Here’s how you add a photo your Favorites album:

1. Find the picture you want to add in the Photos app.
2. At the bottom of the screen, tap the heart icon so that it’s filled in.

And that’s all there is to mark a picture as one of your favorites.

How to create photo albums categorized by location

The Photos app also makes it really easy to create an album based on the geographic location where the photo was taken. Follow these steps:

1. Tap the Search tab at the bottom of the Photos app.
2. In the Search bar, type a location.
3. Tap See All > Select.
4. Tap to select all the pictures you want to add to an album.
5. Tap the Share icon > Add to Album > New Album.
6. Name your album and hit Save.

If you want to add more pictures to an album based on their location, you can repeat steps 1 through 5, but instead of tapping New Album, tap on the existing album.

How to create iPhone photo albums categorized by theme

The search feature in Photos also works for themes, so you can organize all your beach trips or all the pictures you’ve taken of cool classic cars. Here’s how to create an album based on the theme of your pictures:

1. At the bottom of the Photos app, tap Search.
2. In the Search bar, type a theme like “beach.”
3. Tap See All > Select.
4. Select all the pictures you want to put in an album.
5. In the bottom, tap the Share icon > Add to Album > New Album.
6. Give the album a name and then hit Save.

How to create photo albums categorized by people

One of the Photos app’s more impressive features is facial recognition. It scans your pictures and tries to identify all of the people in your photos. So, if you wanted to create an album based on a specific person, here’s how you’d do that:

1. Tap the Albums tab at the bottom of the Photos app.
2. Scroll down to the People & Places section and tap People. Then select a person.
3. Tap Select and then choose all the pictures you want to add to your album.
4. Tap the Share icon > Add to Album > New Album…
5. Name your Album and tap Save.

If you only want to tag a person that Photos has detected in your pictures, just do the following:

1. In Photos, tap Albums
2. Scroll to People & Places and tap People.
3. Select the person you want to tag.
4. At the top, tap Add Name.
5. Type the person’s name and tap Next.
6. Photos will show you other images with that person in them. Select all that are accurate and tap Done.

The more photos you review and tag that person in, the better the Photos app will be at tagging them in the future.

How to rename a photo album on iPhone

Maybe you’ve created an album, but now the name doesn’t make sense anymore. Or perhaps you just realized there’s a typo in your album name. Don’t worry. You can always rename your albums by following these steps:

1. In the Photos app, tap the Albums tab.
2. Tap to open the album you want to rename.
3. Tap the ellipses icon and select Rename Album.
4. Type in your new Album name and hit Save.

The Photos app for iOS is a great tool for managing pictures and can be incredibly useful when your library is organized. With features like the Search tool and facial recognition, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to find the specific picture you’re looking for in a matter of seconds. Hopefully, this article has eased some of the anxiety that might have kept you from diving in to clean up and organize your photo library.

The post How to organize thousands of photos on your iPhone appeared first on Backlight.

While you might be thinking that this sounds too good to be true, well, there are a couple of limitations you should keep in mind before you jump in headfirst and upload your entire photo library. Keep reading to learn about the specifics of using Google Photos on your iPhone.

Is Google Photos storage really unlimited?

Yes. Google Photos really does offer unlimited storage for your pictures and videos, and it’s the only cloud service to provide this much storage. But if you’re thinking to yourself that this sounds too good to be true, you’re right. There is a catch to Google’s free storage.

The catch with free storage on Google Photos

To get unlimited storage with Google Photos, you have to agree to upload compressed pictures and videos. Thankfully, you can still save your library at a reasonably high quality. Google caps pictures at 16 MP and videos at 1080p. Is it full quality? No. But if you’re just looking for a free backup of your entire photo library, it’s a pretty good deal.

Google Photos storage limits for original photos and videos

Of course, compressing your pics and videos isn’t your only option with Google Photos. You can opt to save them at full quality, but they will count towards your Google One storage quota. At the time of writing, Google One’s storage plans are:

• 15 GB for free
• 100 GB for $1.99/month
• 200 GB for $2.99/month
• 2 TB for $9.99/month

How to get unlimited storage on Google Photos

Maybe you’re ready to jump into Google’s unlimited storage headfirst, or perhaps you just want to dip your toe in. Either way, here’s how to set up Google Photos:

1. Download Google Photos from the App Store.
2. Open the app and sign in to your Google account.
3. Choose High quality.
4. Tap Confirm.

That’s all you need to do! Depending on how big your photo library is, it might take some time for the initial upload. But for the fastest performance, it’s best to connect your phone to Wi-Fi and make sure you leave the Google Photos app open.

How to upgrade your Google Photos storage plan

If you end up running out of space on Google Photos, you can follow these steps to upgrade your storage plan:

1. Open Safari and go to the Google Storage page.
2. Sign in to your Google account.
3. Tap Get more storage.
4. Select a storage plan.
5. Follow the prompts to complete your purchase.

How to squeeze more into your Google Photos storage

Even if you’re using the unlimited storage on Google Photos and you aren’t worried about running out of space, it’s still a good idea to try to keep your photo library cleaned up. The more you have stored in it, the slower it can become over time, so here are a few things you can do to make sure you’re getting the most out of your Google storage.

1. Declutter photos before you upload them

Before you upload your pictures to Google Photos, you should declutter your photo library to ensure that you’re not backing up pictures you don’t actually want. You can use an app like Gemini Photos to scan your library to quickly get rid of duplicates, similar-looking images, notes, and more.

After you download Gemini Photos from the App Store, follow the steps below to clean up your library:

1. Open Gemini Photos and let it scan.
2. Tap Similar and choose a month. Your similar pics will be grouped together.
3. Go through each grouping and de-select the ones you want to keep. Then tap Move to Trash.
4. When you’re finished going through a month, tap Empty Trash.
5. Open your Photos app.
6. Tap Albums > Recently Deleted > Select > Delete All.

You can repeat these steps to go through each subsequent month or different categories like Screenshots, Blurred, Notes, etc.

2. Use a dedicated account for Google Photos

If you are saving your original pictures and videos, Google Photos counts toward your shared Google One storage, which means that Google Photos shares space with other services like Google Drive and Gmail.

One way to help ensure that you have enough storage is to create a dedicated Google account just for your photos. That way, you’re not having to split or share your storage. 

3. Clean up your Gmail account

Because Gmail shares storage space with Google Photos, you might want to consider cleaning out your inbox. While emails themselves don’t take up a lot of space, the attachments in your emails do, so it’s wise to get into the habit of periodically purging your account of messages and attachments you don’t need anymore.

The easiest way to clear out large attachments in your email is in a desktop browser on your computer:

1. Open your Gmail mailbox.
2. In the search field at the top, type “has:attachment larger:10M”
3. Select the emails you want to delete.
4. Click the trash can icon.

4. Compress original-quality photos

If you had been uploading your pictures at original or full quality but you’ve decided to switch to the unlimited storage, you can compress the images you’ve already uploaded. You will have to do this from a browser, either on your phone or computer:

1. Go to the Google Photos Settings page.
2. Click Recover storage.
3. Click Compress.

While there may be a minor catch, Google Photos does deliver on what it advertises: free, unlimited storage for all of your pictures and videos. And there’s so much more to the Google Photos app than just storing and viewing. You can also edit your pictures. In fact, the app uses AI to create short videos using your library. They even offer printing options if you decide you want to have any of your pictures printed later. And the fact that it’s free allows you to painlessly check it out before making the commitment to use a new photo service.

The post Google Photos storage limit: Is the free storage really unlimited? appeared first on Backlight.

Thankfully, there are a couple of ways you can hide photos and videos on your iPhone. You can even go as far as to lock them with a password if you’d like. Keep reading to see what options you have for hiding your pictures.

1. Hide pictures and videos in iPhone Photos

The default Photos app will actually let you hide pictures and videos directly in the app. It basically moves whichever photo or video you select into a hidden album. This is great for the pics you want to keep but don’t want to see every time you open your Camera Roll.

You should also keep in mind that this hidden album is in the same place for everyone. That means anyone you allow to use your iPhone could see those hidden photos in just a few taps.

How to create a hidden album

When you first hide a picture or video in the Photos app, it automatically creates a hidden album. To hide your pictures:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Find the picture or video you want to hide.
3. Tap the Share button > Hide.
4. Confirm that you want to hide the picture.

How to unhide a photo or video

If you accidentally hid a picture or now want to move it back in your Camera Roll, you can unhide it when you:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap Albums > Hidden.
3. Select the picture you want to unhide.
4. Tap the Share button > Unhide.

2. Lock photos on iPhone using Notes

Maybe you were hoping for a way to password-protect specific pictures. Even though you can’t do that in Photos, there is a workaround using the Notes app that will let you do that. You can move a photo into a new note and then add a password to the note. Unfortunately, this only works for still images because you can’t save Live photos or videos in a note.

How to lock and password-protect photos in Notes

Before you can lock your photos in the Notes app, make sure you have the lock feature enabled. To turn on password protection for your notes:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Notes > Password.
3. Set and Verify the password you want to use for all notes.

When you have this feature turned on, you can start adding pictures to a password-protected note. To lock a photo with a password:

1. Open the Photos app and find the picture you want to lock.
2. Tap Share > Notes.
3. Select to save it to a new note or an existing note.
4. Tap Save.
5. In the Notes app, open the note with the picture.
6. Tap Share > Lock Note.
7. Type your password.
8. Go back to the Photos app and delete the picture from your Camera Roll.

That last step is important because just copying your pictures to a password-protected note still leaves it in your photo library. So, it’s not truly locked until you delete it from the Photos app.

How to access and save the photos you locked in Notes

After you password-protect your pictures, it’s just as easy to view them or even save them back to your Camera Roll. To access and save your locked photos in the Notes app:

1. Open the note where you saved your picture.
2. Tap View Note.
3. Type in your password to see all of the pictures you have in that note.
4. To move them back to your Camera Roll, tap and hold an image.
5. Tap Share > Save Image.

3. Hide iPhone pictures in Google Photos

If you’re using Google Photos on your iPhone, you’ll be happy to learn you can also hide your pics directly in this app. You can use the Archive feature to move a photo or video out of your library, similar to the Hide feature in Photos.

How to hide a photo or video in Google Photos

You can follow these steps to hide and archive a picture in Google Photo:

1. Open the app and tap on the Photos tab.
2. Tap on the picture you want to archive.
3. Then tap the ellipses in the upper right corner.
4. Finally, tap Archive.

How to unhide pictures and videos in Google Photos

After hiding a pic or video in Google Photos, if you want to move it back to your library, it’s just as easy to bring it back over. To unarchive a picture:

1. Open Google Photos.
2. Tap the three lines at the top > Archive.
3. Select the picture or video you want to unarchive.
4. Tap the ellipses > Unarchive.

Hiding pictures and videos on your iPhone is almost as simple as taking them in the first place. And depending on how much security you need for your most sensitive pictures, there are ways to hide them natively, as well as workarounds to make sure they stay password-protected. Hopefully, this article has helped you figure out the best way to protect your photos.

The post 3 ways to hide private photos and videos on iPhone appeared first on Backlight.

Can you legally download videos to your iPhone?

Before you download videos from anywhere on the internet, you should keep in mind that it might not be ethical or legal. If you download a video that you personally uploaded to a site like YouTube or Facebook, then you won’t be violating any copyright laws. But if you download someone else’s video, you should first reach out to the original uploader and get permission.

How to download a video from Safari to your iPhone

Fortunately, iOS 13 lets you download files directly in Safari. So, if a video is uploaded directly to a site, you can go through the steps below to save the video using only Safari.

1. Tap and hold the link to the video.
2. In the pop-up menu, tap Download Linked File.

But if the video is embedded on a website through a resource like Vimeo or YouTube, which is the case on most websites, then you’ll need the help of a third-party site like DownVids.net. 

Follow these steps to download an embedded video from Safari:

1. Copy the URL of the video.
2. In Safari, go to DownVids.net.
3. Paste the URL in the box.
4. Set the file type to .mp4 and video quality to Full HD (1080p).
5. Tap Download.
6. Tap Download this Video > Download.

That’s all you have to do! You should see the download icon appear in the top right with a progress bar underneath it.

Where do you find the downloaded video?

Everything you download in Safari will be saved in the Files app. By default, the app will store files in either the Downloads folder on your iCloud Drive or directly on your iPhone. You can choose a different folder within the Files app to save your downloads by going to Settings > Safari > Download.

How to download a Facebook video to your iPhone

There’s no way to download videos directly in the Facebook app. So if you want to save a video from Facebook, you’ll need the help of DownVids.net to save videos to your phone. Start downloading Facebook videos by following these steps:

1. Find the video you want to download in the Facebook app.
2. Tap Share > Copy Link.
3. Open Safari and go to DownVids.net.
4. Paste the URL.
5. Set the file type to .mp4 and quality to Full HD (1080p).
6. Tap Download.
7. Tap Download this Video.
8. A new page will open. Tap Download again.

Where does the downloaded video go?

Because you’re using Safari to do the downloading, you’ll find the video in the Files app, in the default folder you have set.

How to save a YouTube video to your iPhone

If there’s a video on YouTube that you want to save, follow these steps to quickly download it on your iPhone.

1. In the YouTube app, find the video you want to save.
2. Tap the three vertical dots next to the video name.
3. Tap Share > Copy link.
4. Switch to Safari and go to DownVids.net.
5. Double-tap in the box to paste the URL.
6. Make sure to set the file type to .mp4 and the quality to 1080p.
7. Tap Download. 
8. Then tap Download this Video.
9. A new window will open. Tap Download to finish.

Where to find the downloaded video

You’ll be able to find the video you just downloaded wherever you set Safari to store files. Typically, it’s in the Files app, but if you’re not sure where that is, you can:

1. Tap the download icon at the top right of the Safari window
2. Hit the magnifying glass next to the video name

How to save videos from Instagram

Since Instagram doesn’t have a feature for you to download videos directly in the app, you’ll need to use Safari and the website DownVids.net. Follow these steps to download your Instagram video:

1. Find the video you want to save in the Instagram app.
2. Tap the ellipsis directly above the video.
3. Tap Copy Link.
4. In Safari, go to DownVids.net.
5. Paste the Instagram link into the box.
6. From the drop-down menus, set the file type to .mp4 and quality to Full HD (1080p).
7. Tap Download > Download this Video.
8. A new window will open, and you’ll be prompted to tap Download.

Where is the video saved?

In the top-right corner of the Safari window, you’ll see the download icon. You can tap that button and then tap on the magnifying glass next to the file name to find where the video is saved.

After you download a video from any of these websites and apps, you’ll see just how easy it is. And the good news is you’ll never have to be without your videos again. Go ahead and upload your videos to Instagram and YouTube, because now you’re able to download them again whenever you need them.

The post How to download videos on iPhone from YouTube, Safari, and more appeared first on Backlight.

Fortunately, it’s also easier than ever to print photos directly from your iPhone. Whether you want to print a couple of pictures to hang up around your place or have framed to give as gifts, you can do it all directly from your iPhone.

In this article, you’ll read about how to print photos from iPhone:

• Wirelessly with AirPrint
• Wirelessly without AirPrint
• Using a mini-printer
• With a third-party app

Before you start printing your iPhone photos

It doesn’t take long for the photo library on your iPhone to fill up with duplicates and similar-looking pictures, which makes it harder to find the exact picture you might want to print. Before you start printing the pics on your iPhone, use an app like Gemini Photos to quickly clean things up.

After you download Gemini Photos from the App Store, you can follow these steps to get rid of the pictures you don’t want:

1. Open the app on your iPhone and let it scan.
2. Tap on one of the categories (for example, Similar).
3. Your pictures will be organized by month. Tap on any of them.
4. Similar photos will be grouped together. Simply select the ones you want to delete and tap Move to Trash.
5. After you’ve moved all the pictures to the trash, tap Empty Trash.
6. Tap Delete.
7. Open the Photos App.
8. Tap Albums > Recently Deleted > Select > Delete All.

After you’ve deleted your similar pics, you can go back to Gemini Photos and scan through other categories like Duplicates, Screenshots, Notes, Blurred, and Videos.

1. Print from iPhone using your home printer

Most newer printers come with Wi-Fi connectivity, meaning you’re able to print wirelessly. In fact, there are two ways you can print wirelessly. If your printer supports Apple’s AirPrint, then you’re ready to go. Otherwise, it’s likely that your printer has an app you can download to print your photos.

How to print pictures from your iPhone using AirPrint

AirPrint is a feature that allows all Macs, iPhones, and iPads to connect to a printer and print wirelessly. But not every printer comes with AirPrint support enabled. If yours does, then all you have to do is follow these steps:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Select the photo you want to print and tap the share icon.
3. Scroll down and select Print.
4. Tap Select Printer.
5. Select your printer from the list.
6. Change the paper size, if needed, under Options.
7. Tap Print.

Why is my iPhone not connecting to my printer?

There are a couple of reasons why your iPhone may not be finding or connecting to your printer. Here are some of the common causes and how to fix them:

• Different Wi-Fi networks, or Wi-Fi is turned off. Verify that both devices are on the same wireless network and have Wi-Fi turned on.
• The printer is too far away. Try moving your printer closer to your Wi-Fi router.
• Your devices need a reboot. Restart your devices one at a time, starting with your Wi-Fi router, your printer, and then your iPhone.

How to print from iPhone without AirPrint

If your printer isn’t AirPrint-enabled but still has Wi-Fi connectivity, it likely has its own app you can use to print photos:

1. Download the printer’s app from the App Store.
2. Follow the on-screen steps to connect to your printer.
3. In the app, you should be able to view and select the photos you want to print.

Can I print from my iPhone with a USB cable?

Unfortunately, there’s no way to connect your iPhone to a printer with a USB cable. And that’s because connecting to your printer with a USB cable requires installing additional drivers or support software, which isn’t something iOS can do.

Of course, if your home printer only has a USB port, another option is to email the pictures to yourself and print them using your computer.

2. Print photos using a mini printer for iPhone

Mini-printers are perfect for printing iPhone photos because they’re small and portable enough that you can always have a photo printer with you. For the sake of this article, we’ll show you how to use the Canon Ivy Mobile Mini Photo Printer:

1. Download Canon Mini Print from the App Store.
2. Launch the app and follow the on-screen instructions to set up your printer.
3. Open the Settings app and tap Bluetooth to ensure that Bluetooth is turned on.
4. Tap Canon Mini Printer.
5. When your iPhone is connected to the Canon Mini Printer, go back to the Canon Mini Print app.
6. Tap the Printer icon on the main screen.
7. On the Choose Printer screen, tap Canon Mini Printer.
8. The printer icon will show up in the top-right corner once it’s connected.
9. Use the app to view and print pictures in your photo library.

3. Print pictures from your iPhone using a third-party app

If you don’t have a home or mini printer, don’t worry — affordable printing services are available at the tap of a button. Just download an app, and you can order prints of your pictures to be shipped directly to your home.

How to print pictures using FreePrints

FreePrints is an iPhone app that lets you print up to 85 4-by-6-inch pictures every month for free. There are no subscription plans. The only thing you have to pay for is shipping, which can be as cheap as $1.99. Download the FreePrints app, then follow these steps to order your prints:

1. Open the FreePrints app.
2. Select the pictures you want to be printed.
3. Tap Next > Continue.
4. Log in or create your FreePrints account.
5. After that, follow the on-screen instructions to finish your order.

How to print your iPhone photos with Shutterfly

Another popular service that’s similar to FreePrints is Shutterfly. One of the great things about Shutterfly is that you can also order products like large-format prints, canvas prints, and even photo books in addition to standard photo sizes. Download Shutterfly from the App Store to get started:

1. Launch the Shutterfly app and sign in or create a Shutterfly account.
2. Tap Photos.
3. Allow access to your photo library.
4. Select the pictures you want to print. 
5. Tap Order Products.
6. Choose your print sizes and finish your order.

While your iPhone has a stunning display that can make all your photos look incredible, there are times when you may want to have them printed out. And, depending on your printer, you might already have everything you need to print your photos.

The post How to print your best photos from iPhone appeared first on Backlight.

Three ways to transfer photos from a Windows PC to an iPhone

There are a couple of different options for transferring your photo library from your Windows computer to your iPhone. In this article, you’ll learn how to use iCloud, iTunes, and AnyTrans.

1. How to copy photos from a PC to an iPhone using iCloud 

You can actually transfer your photos wirelessly from your computer to an iPhone by using iCloud. By setting up both devices to sync with the same iCloud account, your pictures will automatically transfer back and forth.

Follow these steps to transfer your photos from your PC to your iPhone using iCloud:

1. On your PC, download iCloud for Windows.
2. With iCloud for Windows open, log in to your account.
3. Select the checkbox next to Photos.
4. Click Apply.
5. Open a File Explorer window.
6. Under Favorites in the left sidebar, click iCloud Photos.
7. Copy the photos into the Uploads folder.

Once you’ve set up iCloud on your computer, you’ll need to turn on iCloud Photos on your iPhone:

1. On your iPhone, go to the Settings app.
2. Tap [your name] > iCloud > Photos.
3. Toggle on iCloud Photos.

The process of uploading your pictures to iCloud and then to your iPhone may take a few minutes. When the sync completes, you’ll be able to find your pics in the Photos app on your iPhone.

2. How to transfer photos from a PC to an iPhone with iTunes

If you don’t have an iCloud account, you can still transfer pictures by connecting your iPhone to your PC using a USB cable. Once you have your devices connected:

1. Open iTunes.
2. Click on the iPhone button in the top-left of the iTunes window.
3. In the sidebar, click Photos.
4. Check the box to Sync Photos.
5. Choose either Pictures or Choose Folder in the drop-down menu.
6. Select the option to sync all or only selected folders.
7. Click Apply in the bottom-right corner.

Keep in mind that when you sync your photos this way, it overwrites the saved photo library on your iPhone. If this is the only computer you plan on using to sync photos with your phone, then it won’t cause any issues. It becomes a bigger problem, however, when you have pictures on multiple computers that you want to transfer to your iPhone.

3. How to transfer pictures from a computer to an iPhone using AnyTrans 

If you only have a couple of photos you want to transfer from your PC and don’t want to sync the entire photo library on that computer, you’ll want to use an app like AnyTrans. AnyTrans lets you move over select files and won’t erase the existing pictures on your iPhone.

When you have AnyTrans downloaded and installed on your computer:

1. Connect your iPhone to your PC using a USB cable.
2. Open AnyTrans.
3. Click Device Manager in the sidebar.
4. In the middle of the window, click the iPhone screen.
5. Navigate to the photos on your computer.
6. Select the pictures you want to transfer.
7. Click Open.

After the transfer is finished, you’ll be able to unlock your iPhone and find your pictures in the Photos app.

Five ways to transfer photos from a Mac to an iPhone 

As you might imagine, there’s no shortage of ways to transfer pictures from your Mac to your iPhone. In this section, you’ll learn how to move your photos using:

• iTunes
• Finder
• iCloud
• AirDrop
• AnyTrans

1. How to sync photos from a Mac to an iPhone using iTunes

Since the launch of the original iPhone, iTunes has been the primary way to sync your phone with your computer. But recently, Apple has been moving away from iTunes altogether and has even stopped including it in their macOS. That being said, if your Mac runs a macOS version older than Catalina, you can still use iTunes to sync your pictures.

Follow these steps to transfer pictures from your Mac:

1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac using a USB cable.
2. Open iTunes.
3. Click the iPhone button near the top-left of the iTunes window.
4. In the sidebar, click Photos.
5. Check the box next to Sync Photos.
6. From the drop-down menu, choose Photos, iPhoto, or Aperture to sync with your iPhone.
7. Click Apply.

2. How to transfer photos from a Mac to an iPhone without iTunes

You can sync your pictures using the Finder if your computer is running macOS Catalina and doesn’t have iTunes anymore. After you plug your iPhone into your Mac:

1. Click on the Finder icon to open a new window.
2. In the sidebar, click on your iPhone’s name.
3. Select Photos on the button bar. Note: If you have iCloud Photos turned on, you won’t see a Photos button.
4. Check the box to Sync Photos to your device.
5. From the drop-down menu, choose either the Photos app or select a folder.
6. Click Apply.

3. How to sync photos from a Mac to an iPhone with iCloud

You can also sync your photos from your Mac to your iPhone wirelessly using iCloud. To start syncing pictures using iCloud:

1. On your iPhone, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos.
2. Verify that iCloud Photos is turned on.
3. On your Mac, open the Photos app.
4. Click Photos > Preferences.
5. Select the iCloud tab.
6. If your Mac isn’t signed in to iCloud, click Continue to open System Preferences and log in.
7. Check the box next to iCloud Photos.

The pictures from your Mac will start uploading to iCloud, and you’ll see them in the Photos app on your iPhone. 

If your pictures aren’t showing up on your iPhone, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos to make sure you’re logged in to the same iCloud account and verify that photo syncing is turned on.

4. How to AirDrop photos from a Mac to an iPhone

If you only want to transfer a couple of pictures from your Mac, you can use AirDrop to quickly send them to your phone. Once you’ve found and selected your photos in Finder, you can move them to your iPhone by following these steps:

1. Click the Share button at the top of the window.
2. Select AirDrop.
3. Click on your iPhone in the pop-up.
4. Then click Done to finish.

When they’ve been successfully sent to your iPhone, you’ll be able to view them in the Photos app.

5. How to import photos from a Mac to an iPhone with AnyTrans

In the event that you have a lot of pictures you want to transfer to your iPhone, an easy solution is to use the app AnyTrans. It’s a quick way to transfer data from your Mac that doesn’t require iTunes. 

Connect your phone to your computer using the USB cable after you’ve downloaded and installed AnyTrans:

1. Open AnyTrans on your Mac.
2. In the sidebar, click Device Manager.
3. Click the iPhone screen in the middle window.
4. A Finder window will open. Find and select the photos you want to move from your computer.
5. Click Open.
6. Make sure the box next to Photos is checked and click Next.

Once the sync has completed, the photos will show up on your iPhone in the Photos app. (Note that they will be in an album called From AnyTrans and will not appear in Recents.)

After you transfer photos from your computer to your iPhone 

Once you’ve moved your pictures from your computer to your iPhone, you may notice some duplicates or similar-looking images in your photo library. You can quickly clean these up with the Gemini Photos iPhone app. Here’s how you can start decluttering your photo library:

1. On your iPhone, download Gemini Photos from the App Store.
2. Open Gemini Photos and let it scan your library.
3. Tap Similar.
4. Tap on a month or event to sort your pictures.
5. Similar photos will be grouped together, allowing you to select the photos you want to delete in each set.
6. Tap Move to Trash.
7. Repeat this process for each group of similar photos.
8. When you’ve finished going through all your similar photos, tap Empty Trash.
9. Tap Your Library to go back through the other categories like Duplicates, Screenshots, and Notes.
10. When you’re finished, go to the Photos app on your iPhone. 
11. Tap Recently Deleted > Select > Delete All to remove all the pictures from your iPhone.

Transferring your pictures to your iPhone from your computer, whether it’s a Mac or a Windows PC, couldn’t be easier. Hopefully, this article has helped you determine which method will work best for you.

The post How to transfer photos from your Mac or Windows PC to your iPhone appeared first on Backlight.

How to view iCloud photos on your iPhone

Setting up your iPhone to sync your iCloud photos is a great way to make sure all the pictures you take are automatically backed up with the rest of your photo library. But that’s not the only way you can view your pictures and videos from iCloud. Below are instructions for syncing your pictures and viewing them in the Photos app, as well as how to browse through your iCloud photos if you don’t want them saved on your phone.

Option 1. Access your iCloud photos in the Photos app

The most straightforward way to view your photos from iCloud on your iPhone is by turning on iCloud Photos in the Settings app so that all of your pictures and videos sync with your device. Follow these steps to turn on iCloud Photos:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap [your name] > iCloud > Photos.
3. Turn the slider for iCloud Photos on.

Once you have that turned on, you’ll be able to view all of your pictures and videos in the Photos app.

Option 2. View the photos in your browser

If you’re using a shared iCloud account — or want to view a different photo library — you can view pictures from iCloud using your web browser. Follow the steps below to access your iCloud photos without all of them syncing to your device:

1. Open Safari and go to iCloud.com.
2. Sign in to your iCloud account.
3. Tap Photos.

Why don’t I see my iCloud photos on iPhone?

If you don’t see your iCloud photos on your iPhone, there are a few possible reasons. Here are some common problems and things you can do to resolve them:

• iCloud Photos is not allowed on cellular data. Syncing pictures and videos can use up a lot of data, so there’s a feature that will restrict your phone to updating only when connected to a Wi-Fi network. To allow or restrict updates using cellular data, go to Settings > Photos > Cellular Data.
• You’re signed in to a different iCloud account. If you have multiple Apple IDs, it could be that you’re logged in to two different accounts on your iPhone and on your computer. You can check which Apple ID you’re signed in with on your iPhone by going to Settings > [your name].
• iCloud Photos isn’t turned on. It’s possible to be logged in to iCloud without iCloud Photos being turned on. To check, you can go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos.

How to access iCloud Photos on a Windows PC

One of the great things about iCloud is that you can access your pictures on any device. Yes, even on a Windows computer. While iCloud may not be as seamless on a PC as it is on a Mac, Apple has gone to great lengths to make it as user-friendly as possible.

Option 1. Use iCloud for Windows

If you want to keep your photo library in sync with your iPhone and Windows computer, you’ll have to download iCloud for Windows. After you have that downloaded and installed, you can turn on iCloud Photos to start syncing:

1. Open the iCloud for Windows app.
2. Sign in with your Apple ID.
3. Check the box next to Photos to turn it on.
4. Click Apply.

After you’ve turned on iCloud Photos, how you view your photos will depend on which operating system you’re using.

For Windows 10:

1. In the notification area, click the up arrow in the bottom-right corner of your screen. 
2. Click the iCloud icon. 
3. Click Download Photos.

For Windows 8:

1. Click Start.
   Note: On Windows 8.1, you’ll also need to click the down arrow in the lower-left corner.
2. Open the iCloud Photos app.

Option 2. Log in to iCloud in your browser

If you just want to view your pictures without iCloud syncing them to the computer you’re using, you can access your iCloud photos through your web browser:

1. Open your browser of choice and go to iCloud.com.
2. Sign in with your Apple ID.
3. Click Photos.

How to access iCloud Photos on Mac

Thankfully, using iCloud with a Mac couldn’t be any easier. You can set it up so that your iCloud photos are syncing with the Photos app. Or if you don’t want your pictures to automatically save to the computer you’re using, you can simply view your photo library using Safari.

Option 1. See your iCloud photos in the Photos app

If you want to make sure that your most recent pictures and videos are always on your Mac, you’ll want to turn on iCloud Photos in System Preferences. iCloud will make sure the Photos app on your Mac is automatically updated with your pictures from other devices, like your iPhone or iPad. Follow these steps to start syncing your Mac with iCloud photos:

1. Click the Apple icon at the top-left of your screen.
2. Click System Preferences > iCloud.
3. Sign in with your Apple ID.
4. Check the box next to Photos to turn it on.
5. Open the Photos app.

Option 2. Access iCloud in your browser

If you’re using a friend’s computer or a shared Mac, you probably won’t want to sync your photo library with that computer. But don’t worry. You can still view your iCloud pictures by following these steps:

1. Open Safari and go to iCloud.com.
2. Log in with your Apple ID.
3. Click Photos.

Why can’t I see my iCloud photos on a Mac?

If some of your iCloud photos aren’t showing up on your Mac, here are a couple of common issues and what you can do to fix them:

• Your software needs to be updated. Either your MacOS or the Photos app could be out of date, causing syncing issues. Check for updates by clicking the Apple icon > App Store > Updates.
• You’re signed in to a different iCloud account. Verify that you’re logged in to the correct iCloud account by clicking the Apple icon > System Preferences > iCloud.
• iCloud is out of storage. If your iCloud account is out of free space, it won’t be able to update with your photos. You can check how much storage you have available by going to the Apple icon > System Preferences > iCloud. Or, if you’re in Safari, go to iCloud.com > Account Settings > Storage.

iCloud Photos is a great way to back up your photo library and make sure that your devices automatically contain your most recent pictures. And it also keeps your videos and pics online, so whether you’re using your personal computer or that of a friend, you’ll always be able to view your photos.

The post How to access your iCloud photos on an iPhone, PC, or Mac appeared first on Backlight.

If the thought of backing up your photos is a bit intimidating, don’t worry. Keep reading, and you’ll learn just how simple it is to keep your pictures and videos backed up — both with and without iCloud.

Before you do an iPhone photo backup

Before we jump headfirst into backups, let’s take a moment to address an ever-present issue: Your photo library can take up a lot of space. No matter how you decide to back up your pictures, you should only keep the photos you want. Otherwise, you’re just wasting space. And in some cases, as is the case with iCloud, that could end up costing you money.

Thankfully, an app like Gemini Photos will scan your photo library and quickly sort your pictures into categories like Similar, Duplicates, Screenshots, Notes, and more. To start cleaning up your library, download Gemini Photos from the App Store and follow these steps:

1. Open Gemini Photos on your iPhone.
2. Let it scan your library.
3. Tap on the Duplicates category.
4. Tap on a group of photos.
5. Select the pictures you want to get rid of.
6. After you go through all of the duplicates, tap the Delete Duplicates button at the bottom.
7. Tap Delete on the pop-up.
8. Tap Your Library to go back and select another category like Screenshots, Blurred, or etc.
9. When you’re finished cleaning up your library, open the Photos App on your iPhone.
10. Tap Albums > Recently Deleted > Select > Delete All.

Back up your iPhone photos to the cloud

If you’re looking for a way to keep your pictures automatically backed up, then the cloud is definitely the answer for you. And fortunately, that doesn’t mean your options are limited to iCloud. There are other services like Google Photos and Amazon Photos for you to choose from.

How to back up photos to iCloud

If you’re already deep into the Apple ecosystem, iCloud is probably your best bet. Since it’s built into iOS, all of the setup and functionality is native to your iPhone. Follow the steps below to back up the pictures on your iPhone to iCloud:

1. On your iPhone, open the Settings app.
2. Tap [your name] > iCloud > Photos.
3. Toggle iCloud Photos on.

Yes, it really is that simple. The pictures and videos in your Photos app will then start backing up to iCloud. Something to keep in mind is that, by default, every Apple ID gets 5 GB of storage for free with their iCloud account. But when you start backing up your photo library, those 5 GB can fill up fast. If this happens to you, you may need to pay for upgraded storage.

How to back up photos from iPhone to Google Photos

One of the nice things about backing up your pictures to Google Photos is that it offers unlimited photo and video storage — for free! But, there is a catch. It does slightly compress everything you upload.

If you’re specifically looking for a free backup, then this is a great option. You also have the option to upload at full quality, but this will count toward your Google One storage (meaning it will share space with your Gmail account, Google Drive, etc.). But, like iCloud, you can pay to upgrade your total storage if you run out.

To start backing up your pictures with Google Photos:

1. Download Google Photos on your iPhone.
2. Open the app and sign in with your Google account.
3. Choose High quality or Original.
4. Tap Confirm.

How to back up your pictures with Amazon Photos

Another cloud service you can use to back up your photos is Amazon Photos. You can store an unlimited number of photos — at full quality — for free if you’re an Amazon Prime customer. If you want to back up your videos, you’ll get 5 GB of storage for free but will have to pay an annual fee to upgrade if you find yourself needing more space.

After you download Amazon Photos onto your iPhone, you can follow these steps to set it up.

1. Open the app and sign in to your Prime account.
2. Tap Allow to let Amazon access your Photos app.
3. Choose to turn on Auto-Save and Cellular Data.
4. Tap Done.

Back up iPhone photos to your computer

Maybe you don’t like the idea of your entire photo library being in the cloud somewhere. You can always back up your pictures directly to your computer. Your backups obviously won’t be automatic or as frequent as they would be if you were to use a cloud service. Still, this does allow you to have a little more control over which pictures you’re saving.

How to back up iPhone pictures to a Mac with Photos

One of the easiest ways to back up your iPhone’s pictures is with the Photos app on your Mac. After connecting your iPhone to a Mac using the Lightning-to-USB cable, follow these steps:

1. On your Mac, open the Photos app.
2. If needed, unlock your iPhone and tap Trust This Device to continue.
3. If the import window doesn’t automatically appear, click on your iPhone in the Photos app’s sidebar.
4. Either select the pictures you want to import or click Import All New Items in the top right-hand corner.

How to make a photo backup on Mac using Finder

Starting with macOS Catalina (10.15) or later, you can sync your iPhone with a Mac using Finder. Connect your iPhone to your Mac using a USB cable and follow the following steps to sync your pictures:

1. On the Mac, open a new Finder window.
2. In the sidebar, under your Devices, click on your iPhone.
3. Click Photos at the top of the window.
4. Check Sync Photos.
5. Choose the app or folder you want to sync to.
6. Choose to sync all photos and albums or just selected albums. 
7. Click Apply.

How to back up your iPhone photos to a PC using Windows Photos

You can also back up your iPhone photos to a computer running Windows 10 by using the default app Windows Photos. Using a USB cable, connect your iPhone to the computer and unlock your phone:

1. If prompted on your iPhone, tap Trust This Device.
2. Open Windows Photos.
3. In the top-right corner, click Import.
4. A pop-up will appear. Select the pictures you want to backup.
5. Click Continue and follow the instructions.

How to back up pictures to your Windows PC with File Explorer

Another way you can back up your iPhone pictures is by using File Explorer on your Windows computer. Plug your iPhone into your computer using a Lightning-to-USB cable, then follow the steps below:

1. Unlock your iPhone and tap Trust This Device when prompted.
2. Open a File Explorer window. Your iPhone should appear in the sidebar as a new device under This PC (in Windows 10) or Computer (in Windows 7).
3. Right-click on it and select Import pictures and videos.
4. Follow the instructions in the Import wizard.

There are plenty of options when it comes to backing up pictures and videos from your iPhone. In fact, there are so many that there’s no excuse for not making sure the memories you’ve captured are safely saved. Hopefully, one of the methods mentioned in this article will work for you, and you’ll be able to maintain a consistent iPhone photo backup.

The post How to back up photos on iPhone, with or without iCloud appeared first on Backlight.

This article will go over the three major photo storage services — Amazon Photos, Google Photos, and iCloud — and share everything you need to know to help you decide which service is best for you.

Amazon Photos vs. Google Photos vs. iCloud: The pricing

Even comparing the pricing options of the three major photo storage services can be confusing because they all offer something different. For instance, Amazon bases its pricing on a yearly rate, while Google and iCloud will charge you every month. Each of them also offers a free tier with different perks and limitations. But if you want to upgrade to more storage, here’s a breakdown across each service:

Amazon Photos

• 100 GB for $19.99/year
• 1 TB for $59.99/year

Google Photos

• 100 GB for $1.99/month
• 200 GB for $2.99/month
• 2 TB for $9.99/month

iCloud

• 50 GB for $0.99/month
• 200 GB for $2.99/month
• 2 TB for $9.99/month

How much cloud storage do I get for free?

As we mentioned earlier, each service offers a free tier with different features. Here’s a comparison of what you can expect from these free options before you have to upgrade and start paying for storage.

Amazon Photos

To say that Amazon Photos has a free service is a bit misleading. They do offer free unlimited photo storage, but to Amazon Prime customers only. And that’s only for pictures. You only get 5 GB to store your videos for free. To back up more videos, you’ll have to upgrade your storage.

If you want to use Amazon Photos without being a Prime member, there is no free option. You’ll have to subscribe to one of their paid storage tiers. 

Google Photos

The good news about Google Photos is that you get unlimited pics and video storage for free. Yes, you read that right — free unlimited storage for your photo library. The catch, however, is that you can only save compressed versions of your pictures and videos. 

If file compression isn’t a big deal to you, then Google Photos is a steal. But if you want to save your photo library at full quality, you can upload 15 GB free before you have to upgrade to a paid storage option.

iCloud

Of these three services, iCloud is probably the most straightforward when it comes to pricing. The free tier gives you 5 GB of storage but not without a catch. That 5 GB of storage is shared with everything else on iCloud. 

If your iPhone is connected to an iCloud account, it means you’re splitting that 5 GB of free storage between your photos, notes, text messages, contacts, and iPhone backup file. As you can imagine, that 5 GB doesn’t go far when you take all of those things into consideration.

Is Amazon Photos, Google Photos, or iCloud more convenient?

There’s a lot to take into account when you’re comparing these services, especially when trying to determine which service is going to be the most convenient for you. For example, if you’re using an iPhone, then iCloud, right off the bat, is the most native because so many features of iOS depend on having an iCloud account. But here’s a closer look at how these services hold up when pitted against each other.

Amazon Photos vs. Google Photos

If you’re just looking for free online photo storage, these two are definitely the ones you want to dig into. The immediate downside to either of these is that they both require a second app. So, while you take pictures using the Camera app, everything you capture still ends up in the Photos app first. 

Thankfully, both services allow you to automatically upload your pictures as you take them on your phone. This is great if you’re using it to backup your photo library. But if you want to clear space on your device, Google Photos gives you an easy “Free up space” button that will delete pictures from your phone after uploading them. 

It’s features like this that give Google Photos a slight advantage over Amazon Photos. That being said, if you’re already an Amazon Prime member and want to save your pictures at full quality, then Amazon Photos might make a little more sense for you.

iCloud vs. Google Photos

Deciding between these two services isn’t as easy, since they offer a lot of the same functionality. The great thing about Google Photos is that it’s platform-agnostic, meaning it works on Android devices just as well as it works on iOS. That means you’ll never have to worry about your photo library because it lives in Google Photos and can be downloaded to almost any type of device.

That said, the fact that iCloud is native only to iOS is actually a good thing and makes it more convenient to use than Google Photos. All you have to do is turn iCloud Photos on, and everything in your Photos app will sync with the cloud. That’s it.  There’s no second app you have to use to manage your photo library. You don’t have to worry about remembering to free up space. Everything works with iCloud and the Photos app as it should, without any additional effort from you.

Amazon Photos vs. iCloud

Amazon Photos offers a lot of features similar to iCloud and Google Photos. Features like facial recognition, organizing photos by locations, and even auto-creating memories from your pictures. And if you’re solely looking for a backup for all of your photos, then you can’t beat the free unlimited storage Amazon Photos offers to Prime members. 

When Amazon Photos might not work for you is if you have a lot of videos you want to backup or if you’re not already a Prime member. There’s also the inherent benefit of iCloud being part of iOS; it’s not an additional app that you have to worry about, like with Amazon Photos.

So what’s the best photo storage app, all things considered?

Taking everything into consideration, the best photo storage option is iCloud. Because all of its features are native on your iPhone, iCloud is the most convenient option and will be the easiest to use in the long run. Especially if you’re trying to keep multiple devices like a phone, computer, and tablet in sync. 

What’s the best free photo storage app?

If you’re looking purely for the best free option, you can’t go wrong with Google’s unlimited photo storage. While it does slightly compress your pictures and videos, it doesn’t compress them all that much. In fact, the loss of quality is so minimal that you’ll probably have to look at photos side-by-side to even notice any degradation.

Whether you want to back up your photo library or you’re just trying to free up space on your phone, there are some great cloud-based storage options. If you’re not entirely sure what to look for when you’re signing up, it can seem a little confusing at first. Hopefully, this article has helped you understand the differences and determine which photo storage app will work best for you when choosing between Amazon Photos, Google Photos, and iCloud. 

The post Amazon Photos, Google Photos, or iCloud? Photo storage apps compared appeared first on Backlight.

Transfer photos from iPhone to Android

If you’re transferring pictures from your iPhone to an Android, the process is relatively straightforward. Again, if you only want to move a couple of pictures, then email or text may be the way to go. But if you want to transfer an album or two, or even your entire library, you’ll want to keep reading for instructions.

Before you move your photos from iPhone

The saying is true: “Garbage in, garbage out.” And that’s especially true when it comes to the data on your phone. So before you just dump your entire photo library onto your new Android device, quickly clean it up using the app Gemini Photos. Download Gemini Photos from the App Store and follow these steps to start cleaning your photo library:

1. Open Gemini Photos and let it scan your library.
2. Tap on a category like Similar.
3. Tap a date range or event.
4. Select the picture you want to delete and tap Move to Trash.
5. After you’ve gone through all of your similar pictures, tap Empty Trash.
6. Tap Your Library to go back and choose another category like Duplicates, Blurred, Notes, and Screenshots.

How to send a few pictures from iPhone to Android

Transferring a few pictures from your iPhone to Android is pretty simple. The only catch is that you’ll need to use an app called Send Anywhere, which we used in the previous section. Like before, you can wirelessly transfer your pictures as long as you have both phones in the same room.

1. Open the Send Anywhere app on both of the phones.
2. On your iPhone, tap Send.
3. Select the picture you want to transfer.
4. Tap Send.
5. On your Android, tap Receive.
6. Either type in the 6-digit code on your Android’s screen or scan the QR-code.

Can I AirDrop iPhone photos to an Android phone?

AirDrop is a feature made by Apple solely for their devices. That means it isn’t possible to simply AirDrop pictures and videos to an Android phone. But there are other apps and websites, like Snapdrop, that offer similar functionality.

How to bulk-transfer photos from iPhone to Android

Similarly to transferring your entire library from an Android to an iPhone, you can transfer your whole library from iPhone to Android — all without plugging into a computer — thanks to Google Photos. To transfer your entire photo library:

1. Download Google Photos from the App Store.
2. Open Google Photos and sign in to your Google account.
3. Tap Get Started.
4. Tap OK when asked to allow Google Photos to access your photos.
5. Tap Continue.
6. Select High quality and then tap Continue.
7. Tap No thanks to finish the setup and start uploading your pictures.
8. While your library is uploading, download Google Photos on your Android.
9. On your Android, open Google Photos.
10. Sign in to your Google account.
11. Choose High quality and then tap Confirm.
12. Wait for your photos and videos to download.

Transfer photos from Android to iPhone

Transferring your photos from Android to iPhone doesn’t have to be a long and tedious process; it all depends on how many pictures you want to copy over. Of course, if you only want to transfer a handful of photos, you can always email or text them to yourself, but we wouldn’t recommend doing this for more than about ten pictures. To transfer more photos than that, you’ll need to use a computer or a cloud service as the go-between for both phones.

How to transfer a few pictures from Android to iPhone

If you don’t want to transfer your entire photo library from an Android to your iPhone, you can use the app Send Anywhere to quickly transfer select pictures. If two phones are in the same room, you can use the app to move the photos wirelessly from one phone to the other. 

Once you have Send Anywhere downloaded from the Google Play Store and the App Store, you can start transferring your pics:

1. Open the Send Anywhere app on both phones.
2. On your Android, tap Send at the bottom and select the pictures you want to transfer.
3. Tap Send.
4. On your iPhone, tap Receive at the bottom.
5. Either type in the 6-digit code on your Android’s screen or scan the QR-code.

When you get to Step 3, you also have the option to send your pictures using a link if your phones aren’t close to each other or the wireless transfer isn’t working for some reason.

How to mass-transfer photos from Android to iPhone

Manually selecting each photo won’t really work if you’re upgrading from an Android to an iPhone and want your entire photo library to come over with you. Thankfully, if you were using a cloud service like Google Photos to back up your photo library, it’s easy to transfer to your new iPhone. 

Even if you weren’t already using Google Photos, you can still download it to your Android from the Google Play Store and quickly set it up to start transferring all of your photos. To transfer your photo library using Google Photos:

1. Open Google Photos on your Android.
2. Sign in with your Google account.
3. Tap Backup.
4. Choose either High quality or Original.
5. Tap Confirm.
6. While your Android is uploading the pictures, you can download Google Photos on your iPhone and open it. 
7. Tap Get started.
8. A prompt will appear asking to grant Google Photos access to your photos.
9. Tap Continue.
10. Tap No thanks to finish the setup, and the photos from your Android will start downloading to your iPhone. Any pictures you’ve taken with your iPhone will start uploading to Google Photos.

Something to keep in mind during Steps 4 and 10 is that Google offers free unlimited storage using the High-quality setting, which compresses pictures to save them. However, if you choose Original for those steps, photos will be saved at full-quality and will count toward your Google One storage limit.

After you move your photos to iPhone

When you’re setting up your new iPhone, it’s a good time to start fresh, especially when it comes to your photo library. It’s surprising how quickly your library can fill up with duplicate photos, similar-looking images, or even unnecessary screenshots. 

Thankfully, the iOS app Gemini Photos can help you quickly clean up your library, so you’re not wasting any storage space on your new iPhone. To start cleaning up your photo library:

1. On your iPhone, download Gemini Photos from the App Store.
2. Open it and let it scan your photo library.
3. Tap a category like Duplicates.
4. Tap a group of photos.
5. Select the pictures you want to delete.
6. After you’ve gone through all of them, tap Delete Duplicates.
7. You can then tap Your Library at the top to go back through the other categories of pictures and videos.

Gemini Photos only scans pictures saved in iCloud or stored on your phone, so if you have pictures and videos in Google Photos, you’ll have to download them to your phone before you can clean up your library and reduce the clutter.

Whether you’re going from Android to iPhone or iPhone to Android, there are a couple of ways you can get your pictures onto your new device. Whichever method you choose, it’s important to have a bit of patience. It can take some extra time to transfer everything depending on how much you’re trying to move at one time. 

The post How to transfer your photos between Android and iPhone appeared first on Backlight.

If you’ve ever accidentally deleted a treasured photo, you know how anxiety-inducing it can be, and you may be wondering if you can recover deleted photos from your iPhone, how to retrieve deleted photos from a backup, and even how to recover deleted images from iCloud. 

Here are some steps you can take to recover photos that you’ve accidentally deleted. Step number one — don’t panic!

How to find deleted photos on iPhone

Where do deleted photos go when you tap the trash can on your iPhone? Because we all make mistakes, photos that are deleted from your phone are stored in a recently deleted album, where they are saved for 30 days. In other words, you can breathe your first sigh of relief.

How to recover photos from Recently Deleted

1. Open the Photos app and tap Albums.
2. Scroll down to the Other Albums section and tap Recently Deleted.
3. Here you will find all the photos you’ve deleted in the past 30 days. 
4. Choose the photo you want to recover and tap Recover. Your photo will be saved in your Photo Library.

Can you recover permanently deleted photos on iPhone?

The short answer to this question is maybe. Whether or not you can recover permanently deleted photos will depend on if your photo was saved in iCloud or if you have a backup from which you can recover your photo. In many but not all cases, it is likely that you will still be able to recover your photo.

How to recover deleted photos from iCloud

If you were signed in to iCloud when you deleted your photo, then your photos will remain on the iCloud platform for 30 days. If, for some reason, you were signed out of iCloud when you deleted your photo, you may be able to retrieve it past the 30-day mark. Visit icloud.com on the web and then follow these steps:

1. Sign in to iCloud and click on Photos.
2. Start your search by checking the Recently Deleted folder. 
3. Select the photo you want to retrieve and click Recover.
4. Depending on how long you’ve been signed out of iCloud, you may find your photo in your iCloud photo library. Open iCloud and click Photos.
5. Scroll through until you find the photo you’re looking for. Click the download icon at the top of the screen to save the photo to a folder on your computer. 

How to retrieve deleted photos from a backup 

If you’ve been backing up your iPhone data to your Mac, then you may be able to recover your photos that way. To help reduce the risk of losing a photo in the future, here’s a tip — back up your iPhone data to iTunes or Finder using a Mac. Apple Support has instructions on how to do this. 

The downside to this method is that iTunes only allows you to restore your entire backup, overwriting everything currently on your iPhone. This means you may manage to find your photo, but you also might lose more recent data from your phone. 

If you’re only looking to retrieve photos, the best way to extract them from your iPhone backup is to use a third-party app. Here’s how to retrieve deleted photos from your iPhone using EaseUS MobiSaver. 

1. Download EaseUS MobiSaver and open it on your computer (EaseUS makes this software for Macs and PCs).
2. Choose Recover from iTunes and then choose your iPhone from the menu and click Scan.
3. You will be able to preview your lost photos. Choose the ones you want to restore. Then save them to a folder on your computer. 

Can you recover permanently deleted photos without a backup? 

Okay, so you deleted your favorite photos months ago, and you haven’t backed up your iPhone. Have you reached the end of the road? There’s one more course of action you can try, and it involves third-party software. PhoneRescue is a professional data recovery tool that can be used as a last resort. The only caveat is that it will work only if your photos haven’t been overwritten by other data.

PhoneRescue can be downloaded to your PC or Mac. Plug your iPhone into your computer using a USB port and scan your device for your deleted photos using PhoneRescue. You can restore all of your deleted data, or you can choose to scan only for lost images. You will be able to preview photos before restoring them. 

Mistakes happen, and there’s a good chance that you will, at some point, accidentally delete a photo before realizing that you want to keep it. Hopefully, the solutions outlined in this article will help with the recovery. 

The post How to recover the photos you deleted from your iPhone appeared first on Backlight.

Digital iPhone photography is as simple as tapping your screen whenever the mood strikes, but what good is taking all those photos if you’re the only one who ever sees them? Enter the humble photo printing app, which allows you to order and print high-quality photos from your iPhone and have them delivered to your door. 

8 apps to print high-quality photos from iPhone 

Ready to take the next step and have your favorite photos printed from your iPhone? These are the best photo printing apps available right now for iPhone.

1. Shutterfly 
2. Snapfish
3. FreePrints
4. Mixtiles
5. Print Studio
6. Printastic
7. Walgreens
8. Nations Photo Lab

1. Shutterfly: Best iPhone printer app for cards and gifts

There are a lot of reasons to love the Shutterfly photo printing app. With the Shutterfly app, you can upload photos directly from your Camera Roll or from Facebook, Instagram, and Google Photos. Unique photo gifts include puzzles, magnets, fleece blankets, mugs, and more. 

Once you create an account, you can take advantage of sales and discounts on prints, cards, gifts, and calendars. Promotional deals change throughout the seasons, but it’s not uncommon to receive unlimited free prints, free photo books, and huge discounts on photo cards.  

Shutterfly on the App Store

2. Snapfish: Best App to Print Photos from Your iPhone

Snapfish is another reliable photo printing app that is very similar to Shutterfly, offering the ability to order prints from your iPhone, as well as a range of gift items including blankets, pillows, mugs, puzzles, and playing cards. Print options are also quite extensive, allowing you to choose from a huge variety of sizes and finishes for a personalized touch. 

Like Shutterfly, Snapfish offers deals and promos all the time, as well as free shipping if you spend over $29.

Snapfish on the App Store

3. FreePrints: Best free printer app for iPhone

With FreePrints, you can quickly and easily turn your photos into premium 4×6 prints for just the price of shipping and handling. To get started, choose which app you want to print your photos from — your Photo library, Facebook, Instagram, Google Photos, and many other platforms are supported. 

You can order up to 1,000 free prints every month, but large sizes will cost extra. Unlike many other apps, FreePrints does not have a huge line of photo gifts — just high-quality photo printing for an unbelievable price. It’s the perfect no-fuss app for simple photo printing.

FreePrints on the App Store

4. Mixtiles: Best photo printing app for Instagram users

If you are one of the millions of people using Instagram to document your days, you will love Mixtiles. Take those tiny squares that represent family, friends, and fun, and turn them into 8×8 tiles you can stick on your wall. 

Mixtiles are removable, reusable, and leave no marks, so they’re perfect for on-the-fly decorating of any space in your home or office. In fact, using Mixtiles is probably the easiest way to take your photos from your Instagram gallery directly to your at-home gallery. Choose from different frames and mat designs for a style that fits your unique space.

Mixtiles on the App Store

5. Print Studio: Best photo printing app for retro-style photo booth prints

On the surface, Print Studio may seem like just another free app to print photos from iPhone, but some of the prints and photo gifts are one-of-a-kind. Retro photo booth prints are just one example. 

With Print Studio, you can create fun film strips in various sizes that are perfect for sharing with friends and family. Other fun products include daily calendars, grid posters, and mini photo books. Of course, classic print sizes are also available, with an emphasis on high-quality, natural-looking photos that are suitable for framing. 

Print Studio on the App Store

6. Printastic: Best photo printing app for easy photo books

Printastic takes all the guesswork out of creating beautiful photo books from the photos on your iPhone. The Printastic app uses an algorithm to analyze your photos and find sets of related shots to create a photo book with a unique layout to maximize space. Photo prints, canvases, and magnets are also available. 

Photos are printed on premium Kodak paper in glossy or matte finish. The app is intuitive and easy to use, and prices are affordable, making Printastic a great app for printing photos from your iPhone. 

Printastic on the App Store

7. Walgreens: Intuitive app for quick photo printing

Need your high-quality photo prints quickly? If you live near a Walgreens, you can download the Walgreens photo printing app and have your photos printed for same-day pickup. This is one of the most popular ways to print photos from your iPhone, and it is especially useful if you need them immediately. 

At Walgreens, you can purchase prints in a variety of sizes, as well as photo books, calendars, and cards. Promo codes and discounts are widely available, making easy photo printing quick and affordable.

Walgreens on the App Store 

8. Nations Photo Lab: Best photo printing app for high-quality prints

Nations Photo Lab is passionate about creating the highest-quality photo prints available. The company prides itself on excellent customer service, a full money-back guarantee, and a variety of creative print options for amateur and professional photographers alike. Print options include a variety of sizes, including large-format prints, as well as many different creative finishes. Choose from linen, metal, canvas, or acrylic prints that really stand out from the competition. 

Nations Photo Lab on the App Store

With so many fabulous photo printing apps available for iPhone, printing photos is nearly as easy as not printing them. Photo prints are great for sharing, sending, gifting, and hanging. Give one of these apps a try to create memories that you can enjoy without looking at your phone. 

The post The best photo printing apps to print photos from your iPhone appeared first on Backlight.

Keep reading to see what external drives you can use and decide which one will work best for you.

The best external storage options for your iPhone photos

When you run out of space on your iPhone, it’s understandable that you would want to make sure your pictures and videos are backed up so you don’t lose them. And sure, you could save your photo library online, but there’s something nice about having them on a physical drive that you can hold in your hand. Here are a couple of the best external storage options to use with your iPhone.

HooToo iPhone Flash Drive: Best flash drive for iPhone

The HooToo Flash Drive is small and lightweight, making it conveniently portable. It also has a lightning connector on one end and a standard USB connector on the other, so you can plug it directly into your iPhone and computer to transfer your photo library.

HooToo iPhone Flash Drive on Amazon

Qarfee Drive: 4-in-1 iPhone USB drive

The great thing about the Qarfee USB drive is its versatility and 4-in-1 functionality. It not only has lightning and standard USB connectors,  but it also has a Micro USB connector and a USB-C adapter. With this USB drive, you’re prepared for whatever device you need to connect it to so you can back up your photo library. 

Qarfee 4-in-1 iPhone Drive  on Amazon

Sandisk iXpand: Flash drive for iPhone

One of the best things about the Sandisk iXpand flash drive is the iOS app you can use with the drive. It automatically transfers over your photo library, so all you have to do is open the app and plug in the drive. 

Sandisk iXpand on Amazon

EATOP iPhone Memory Stick: The most storage for the lowest price

Like other drives on this list, the EATOP iPhone memory stick has multiple connectors so you can connect it directly to your iPhone and your computer. But where it really sets itself apart is how much space you get for the price. On Amazon, you can get 128 GB for under $24.

EATOP iPhone Memory Stick on Amazon

Leef iBridge 3: Thumb drive for iPhone

The Leef iBridge 3 is probably the most traditional thumb drive on this list. It’s designed so that when you plug it into your phone, you don’t have a massive dongle sticking out like you would with a lot of other drives. Instead, this thumb drive wraps around to the back, making it more convenient to continue using your phone while connected. This is great because you can use Leef’s iOS app to take pictures and videos while saving them directly to the USB storage, so you don’t have to worry about transferring them later to free up storage space.

Leef iBridge 3 on Amazon

iDiskk: iPhone photo stick

If you’re looking for a drive that you can take with you everywhere you take your iPhone, then iDiskk Photo Stick is the drive you need. It’s made with an aluminum casing that helps protect it from falls without adding any unnecessary weight. This makes it an easy and convenient drive to go wherever you go.

iDiskk Photo Stick on Amazon

LIY7: Pendrive for iPhone

Just as its name implies, the LIY7 is not only a convenient flash drive that you can use with your iPhone, but it’s also a pen you can write with. Its versatility makes it easy to slip into your bag or even your pocket to carry with you. And that way, you always have a pen with you, as well as extra storage for your iPhone when you need it most.

LIY7 iPhone Pendrive  on Amazon

LaCie Rugged Mini: External hard drive for iPhone

Maybe you were hoping for something with a little more storage to store your entire photo library. In that case, you’re going to want an external hard drive like the LaCie Rugged. Rugged Mini hard drives start at 1 TB and are currently available up to 5 TB, which should satiate even the largest of libraries.

LaCie Rugged Mini Drive on Amazon

As you can see, there are a ton of options when you’re looking for external storage for your iPhone. It all just depends on your specific needs and how you want to use that storage. Hopefully, reading this article has helped you figure out which options will work best for you.

The post The best external iPhone storage drives for photo hoarders appeared first on Backlight.

The best private photo sharing sites

Some of the pictures you take are a little more private than others. Maybe you don’t want to share pictures of your kids all over the internet or to publicly post those embarrassing albeit funny pictures of your family trying to pose together. However, you might want to share them with select friends and family members. The following are the best sites to privately share or transfer your pics.

1. Google Photos: Best free photo sharing site

Although it was initially marked as a backup solution for your entire photo library, Google Photos has some pretty impressive sharing functionalities. All of your pics are private when you upload them, but you can share them with friends and family at any time so that they can download or add them to their photo library. And, perhaps best of all, Google offers a free tier that allows you to store an unlimited number of photos. How can you go wrong with that?

Check out Google Photos

2. iCloud Photos: Private photo sharing and backup

If you’re an iPhone or Mac user, then there’s a good chance you’re already familiar with iCloud in some form or another. But if you have iCloud Photos turned on on your iPhone, your pictures are already being automatically uploaded as you take them. You can share your pictures and videos at any time or even create collaborative albums so you and your friends can privately share photos.

3. Amazon Photos: Best way to share photos for Prime members

Offering many features similar to those of Google Photos and iCloud Photos, Amazon may be a better option for sharing your photos with friends and family. It’s free to all Amazon Prime members and is fully integrated with other Amazon products. That means you can view your library on any Fire TV or Alexa-enabled device with a screen. 

Check out Amazon Photos

4. Dropbox: Best way to share photos and more

While Dropbox might not be your typical photo library manager, it is a quick and user-friendly way to share your files. So after you upload your pictures and videos, you’ll be able to view them online and share them with anybody. And you can create a shared folder so other users can send their pictures from a trip or event to you. 

Check out Dropbox

5. WeTransfer: Quickly send your pictures

If you have a folder or group of pictures you want to share, the quickest and easiest way to send them to friends is with WeTransfer. It lets you send files of all types without requiring you to create an account first. Just like sending an email, all you have to do is type in your email address, type in the email addresses you’re sending to, and attach the pictures you want to share. 

Now, that being said, you can create an account with WeTransfer and pay to upgrade so that you can access more features like raising the transfer limit from 2 GB to 20 GB and password-protecting what you share.

Check out WeTransfer

Photo websites to share photos online

Sharing your pictures with family and friends can be a lot of fun, but maybe you’ve taken some pictures that you want to share beyond your social circle. There are plenty of websites that will host your photos for you; it just depends on what specific features you’re hoping to get out of those sites. Here are the five best sites to share your pictures online.

6. Flickr: Best of the photo sharing sites

Flickr is probably one of the most popular sites for hosting pictures on the internet. In addition to hosting, Flickr offers a suite of editing and organizing tools, as well as a handful of social networking features.  You can like or comment on pictures or have other people do the same for your pics. And because of its popularity, a lot of other apps integrate with Flickr, automatically uploading or syncing your pictures.

Check out Flickr

7. SmugMug: Quality photo sharing website 

SmugMug has some great features and sleek layout templates to help you showcase and share your pictures. You can also organize your library into albums, so it’s a little easier to navigate through all of your pictures. And you can always update your theme to change the layout of how your images are being displayed. 

While it’s a little light on social networking tools, you can connect your other accounts on platforms like Facebook and Twitter to share with your friends.

Check out SmugMug

8. Photobucket: Host your pictures for backup or to share publicly

Something that sets Photobucket apart from the other sites on this list is how well it lets you walk the line of sharing pictures online and backing up your library. With organizational features like captions and titles for your pictures, Photobucket will also let you sort them into public and private albums so that only your public photos appear when other people search for them. 

One of the downsides to Photobucket is that not all of their tools are available, depending on which subscription tier you choose. So, before you sign up and start uploading your entire photo library to Photobucket, make sure you’ll be able to use the features you want or need the most.

Check out Photobucket

9. 500px: Showcase and license your pictures

While anyone can upload their pictures to 500px, where the site really excels is with professional and aspiring photographers. 500px focuses on displaying and showcasing your work, as well as networking with other photographers. In fact, they claim that their search algorithm works to highlight the work of new members so that more experienced users can offer feedback and help. 

Membership is free, but you can only upload 20 photos per week. You can upgrade to a Pro membership for only $25 per year, which will unlock more features and give you access to unlimited uploads.

Check out 500px

10. PhotoBlog: Blog and share your photos online

If you’re looking for more of a blogging platform to share your photos on, you should turn to the aptly named PhotoBlog. With an emphasis on layouts and designs, PhotoBlog gives you greater control of how your photos are displayed. You can organize your pictures into galleries and not only give them titles and captions but also write entire blog posts to go along with your images. And like some of the other websites on the list, PhotoBlog will act as a social network, letting you like and comment on other photographers’ pictures while letting them do the same on your photos.

Check out PhotoBlog

The best free photo sharing sites

When it comes to sharing your pictures online, maybe you’re just looking for something easy-to-use for one photo or just a handful of images. And, more importantly, you may just want something that will host your pictures for free. The following are the top five free places to upload your photos.

11. Imgur: Easiest way to share images online

If you don’t want to worry about storage limits, then Imgur might be the site for you. It’s mostly used to host images for websites like Reddit or other social media sites, so you probably don’t want to store family pictures or vacation photos here. 

But, that being said, you can upload as many images as you want without even creating an account, but if you do create a free account, you gain access to features like albums and captions to help organize your pictures.

Check out Imgur

12. Behance: Share and find inspiration on this photo website

More of a social network for all creative professionals, Adobe’s Behance is perfect for photographers uploading their pictures. It’s free to use, and there’s no limit to how many projects you can have on there or how many images you upload. It’s not meant for uploading your entire photo library, however, but individual projects or collections of photos. And if you’re already using any apps from the Adobe suite, then uploading to Behance from those apps will be a breeze.

Check out Behance

13. ImageShack: A well-designed and free photo sharing site

Even though ImageShack doesn’t give you unlimited storage for your pictures, it does give you 10 GB per month for free. If you’re only occasionally uploading a group of pictures, then spacing your 10 GB out shouldn’t be too difficult. You can tag pictures, organize your photos into albums, and share them with friends.

Check out ImageShack

14. PostImage: Upload your photos online

Uploading your pictures is fast and super easy using PostImage. You can upload and resize your photos without even creating an account. If you do create an account, you’ll have access to more features, such as organizing your photos into galleries and generating links to make sharing even easier. The only caveat to using PostImage is that your pictures have to be under 8 MB each to upload them.

Check out PostImage

15. imgbox: Quick photo sharing site

Another fast, simple-to-use, and completely free photo site is imgbox. Like PostImage, you don’t need an account to get started, but if you do create one, you’ll gain access to more tools. You’ll be able to upload pictures, create galleries, and save your upload settings as presets for next time. 

With imgbox, you get unlimited storage for JPG, GIF, and PNG files. The only limitation is that each file must be under 10 MB when you upload it.

Check out imgbox

The best photo sharing apps for iPhone

You’re probably taking most of your pictures with your iPhone. With every iPhone model, the camera keeps getting better, and it’s always with you in your pocket. It makes sense that you’d want to find an app that makes sharing the photos on your iPhone easier. 

Many of the sites listed in this article offer an iOS app with most of the same sharing features. But maybe you’ve tried those apps and just don’t like the way they work on your iPhone. If that’s the case, here are five top-notch iPhone apps to make sharing your photos easier.

16. PhotoCircle: Share your photos with a private group 

The best way to think about PhotoCircle is as a massive shared photo album. So every time you create a new album, it’s private, and only you can see the pictures you add until you invite other people to be a part of that album. And once other people join your album, you can give them permission to add their own pictures. The best part is that there’s no limit to how many people you can invite or how many photos you can upload. 

PhotoCircle on the App Store

17. VSCO: Edit pictures and share them online

While VSCO is an app that’s primarily thought of for its powerful photo editing features, it also has robust sharing features. After you import your pictures, you can publish and organize them into collections or share them outside of the VSCO network. VSCO is free to download and use, but you can unlock more features if you upgrade with a paid subscription of $20 per year.

VSCO on the App Store

18. Ever: An app to back up and share pictures

Ever does much more than share your photos with your friends and family; it will actually back up your entire photo library for free with unlimited storage. 

The downside with the free tier is that it compresses your pictures, but if you want to save your images at full resolution, you can upgrade to the Ever Plus subscription. You can put your pictures into shared albums to send to your close family and friends, or you can connect your other social media accounts to share directly to those platforms.

Ever on the App Store

19. Cluster: Private app for sharing photos

With Cluster, you can privately share all of your photos with friends and family. Where Cluster differs from some of the other apps on this list is that instead of creating a shared album to share with friends, you actually create private groups for everyone to continuously share pics and videos with each other. Within each group, you can even organize your photos into different albums and collections.

Cluster on the App Store

20. FamilyAlbum: Best app to share photos with family

As you’d probably guess from the app’s name, FamilyAlbum is meant for sharing pictures among family members. It’s designed mostly for parents who want to keep their family members updated with pictures of their kids without annoying all of their other friends on social media. And since you’re already uploading pics of your family, FamilyAlbum also offers excellent tools to design and print a physical photo book.

FamilyAlbum on the App Store

There are a ton of ways to share your pictures, whether you’re looking for a quick way to securely transfer photos, showcase your best photography skills, or share photos from your iPhone. Hopefully, this article has helped you figure out the best way for you to share all of your photos online.

The post The 20 best photo sharing sites and apps in 2020 appeared first on Backlight.

Keep reading to learn how you can share your pics with iCloud Photos and to see everything else you can do with this feature.

How to share photos on iCloud with friends and family

Starting with the release of iOS 12, Apple rebranded this feature as simply Shared Albums. So depending on what iOS you’re using, you may see Shared Albums or iCloud Photo Sharing. But that aside, sharing photos couldn’t be any easier. The only thing you need to do is make sure everyone you want to share with has this feature enabled on their devices.

How to set up iCloud Photo Sharing

Follow these simple steps to start sharing with iCloud Photos:

1. On your iPhone, open the Settings app.
2. Tap Photos.
3. Turn on Shared Albums. Note: In iOS 11 or older, turn on iCloud Photo Sharing.

How to share an existing photo album on iPhone 

If you’ve already created a photo album but now want to share it, you’ll have to copy the photos to a new Shared Album. This might sound a little tedious at first, but I promise, it’s pretty easy. Just follow these steps to share your existing photo albums:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap the album you want to share.
3. Tap Select > Select All.
4. Hit the Share icon in the bottom left.
5. In the popup menu, tap Add to Shared Album.
6. Tap Shared Album > New Shared Album. Note: You can also add pictures to an existing Shared Album instead of creating a new album.
7. Title your Shared Album and tap Next.
8. Add people you want to share the album with.

How to create a shared album on iPhone

To create a new Shared Album directly on your iPhone, just follow these steps:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap Albums > + > New Shared Album.
3. Give your new album a name and hit Next.
4. Add the friends and family members you want to share the album with, then tap Create.

How to accept a shared album invite

If someone else wants to share an album with you, you’ll have to accept the invitation before you start seeing their pictures and videos. To accept an invite:

1. Go to your Photos app.
2. Tap the For You tab. The invite should appear at the top of the list. 
3. Tap Accept.

How to access a shared album on iPhone

Like iCloud Photos, Shared Albums are integrated directly into the Photos app on your iPhone. To access Shared Albums, you just need to:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap the Albums tab.
3. Scroll to the Shared Albums section.

Why can’t I share an album? 

If you’re running into a problem while sharing an album with iCloud, here are a couple of other common issues and what you can do to fix them.

• It’s a private album. You may have inadvertently created a private album instead of a shared one. You can follow the instructions from earlier to share the album with friends.
• Shared Albums aren’t enabled. Follow the instructions above to make sure Shared Albums are turned on.
• Check your Wi-Fi network. If your iPhone doesn’t have a great Wi-Fi connection, it won’t be able to upload or share pictures with iCloud. Try changing networks or switching to cellular data.
• Make sure iCloud Photos is working. You can check Apple’s System Status page to see if iCloud is up.

Why can’t I see the photos in a shared album? 

If you’re having trouble viewing pictures in a Shared Album, here are some things that could be causing that issue.

• Your iPhone doesn’t meet system requirements. Shared Albums require at least iOS 7 or higher.
• Cellular data is blocked for Photos. Allow Photos to use cellular data by going to Settings > Cellular and turning on Photos.
• iCloud Photos is down. Use Apple’s System Status page to make sure iCloud Photos is up.
• The Wi-Fi connection is poor. Try connecting your iPhone to a different Wi-Fi network or using your cellular data.

How to share photos between your devices with My Photo Stream

If you’re looking to share your photo library between all of your own personal devices, rather than sharing with friends and family, then you might want to consider My Photo Stream. It automatically and wirelessly syncs your recent pictures across all of your devices.

What is My Photo Stream, and how does it work?

The great thing about My Photo Stream is that it doesn’t use any of your iCloud storage, so you don’t have to worry about space when you’re using it. The downside is that it only syncs your last 1,000 pictures for up to 30 days. So while your recent pictures will automatically show up on all your devices, if you want to save them on a particular device, you’ll have to manually save the photos.

How to share photos using My Photo Stream

The first step to sharing photos across your devices is to make sure you have My Photo Stream enabled on all of them. To turn My Photo Stream on:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Photos.
3. Turn on Upload to My Photo Stream.

My Photo Stream will then appear in your Photos app as its own album. When you want to save a picture, simply find it in the My Photo Stream album and tap the Share icon > Save Image.

Sharing photos with friends and family or even across your own devices is super simple thanks to all the great features of iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream. And when you’re using those features on your iPhone, they’re all conveniently integrated into the Photos app. Now you can share your pictures privately without worrying about them being all over your social media accounts for everyone to see.

The post iCloud Photo Sharing: How to share iPhone photos on iCloud appeared first on Backlight.

Thankfully, Apple has a cloud-based photo service, My Photo Stream, that’s designed to help keep your most recent photos in sync across all of your devices. Keep reading for a deep dive into My Photo Stream and see what separates it from Apple’s more robust photo service, iCloud Photos.

Understanding My Photo Stream

If you have My Photo Stream turned on, it gets rid of all of the headaches and hassles that come with transferring your pictures back and forth across your devices. Still, it’s not without flaws and may not be suited for all of your needs. Let’s take a closer look at how My Photo Stream works and what it works for. 

What is Photo Stream on iPhone?

My Photo Stream looks like any other photo album in the Photos app. It allows you to view all of your most recent pictures and videos, no matter what device you took them with. For example, if you take a picture using your iPhone, My Photo Stream will automatically sync it across all your Apple devices so that the next time you pick up your iPad, you’ll see that picture in your Photo Stream.

There are some limitations to My Photo Stream. It only saves your last 1,000 pictures for 30 days. So, while My Photo Stream doesn’t save your photo library in its entirety, it does guarantee that regardless of which device you’re using, you’ll always have your most recent pictures saved.

How My Photo Stream can help you

One of the most significant ways My Photo Stream can help is with improving your photo editing workflow. Shortly after you take a picture on your iPhone, you’ll see it in your Photo Stream on your computer without ever physically connecting the two. From there, you can make any edits or just organize it in the library on your computer. 

This is obviously a much simpler way to sync pictures between devices, but it’s also a huge time-saver — provided you’re on a reliable Wi-Fi network.

What’s the difference between iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream?

If you’re familiar with using iCloud Photos and think that My Photo Stream sounds very similar, you’re not wrong. The best way to differentiate the two is to think of Photo Stream as a way of syncing your latest pictures between all of your devices, while iCloud Photos is more about syncing and backing up your entire photo library.  

Because iCloud Photos syncs everything in your library, it doesn’t have the same limitations as Photo Stream. It can sync pictures older than 30 days and supports Live Photos and videos. But you only get 5 GB of storage space for free. If you need more space, you can pay for an upgrade.

My Photo Stream is free and doesn’t have any storage space limitations. So while it doesn’t support Live Photos or videos, it also doesn’t cost you anything to wireless sync your newest pictures between your devices.

Does My Photo Stream use iCloud storage?

My Photo Stream doesn’t utilize any of your iCloud storage, but it does use space locally on each device. That means the same picture is using space on your iPhone, iPad, computer, and wherever else you have My Photo Stream turned on.

Using iPhone’s Photo Stream

The best thing about Photo Stream is that all you have to do is turn it on on all of your devices, and that’s it. My Photo Stream automatically uploads your pictures as you take them or as soon as you have an active internet connection, so you don’t have to give it a second thought.

Before you upload your photos

The number of photos you see in My Photo Stream is limited, so you don’t want to waste that on 15 photos of the exact same thing every time or the screenshots you took and forgot to delete. So before you sync 1,000 of your most recent photos to My Photo Stream, do a quick cleanup with Gemini Photos. 

Here’s how to declutter your iPhone photos before uploading them:

1. Download Gemini Photos on your iPhone.
2. Launch it and grant it access to your photo library.
3. Tap similar > current month.
4. Go through groups of similar photos, mark the ones you don’t want, and tap Move to Trash.
5. Then tap Your Library and go to Screenshots, Notes or Blurred.
6. All the screenshots, photos of text, and blurry photos will be pre-selected. Review them and tap Delete All.

You can also go through your videos in the Videos module and delete the ones you don’t want, as well as head to Other and swipe through all of your photos to get rid of those you don’t like.

How to access My Photo Stream

On your iPhone, you’ll be able to access My Photo Stream directly in the Photos app. 

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap Albums.
3. Tap My Photo Stream.

If you don’t see an album called My Photo Stream, make sure you don’t have iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream both turned on. If you have both enabled, your pictures will appear in the Recents album instead.

How to turn on and turn off My Photo Stream

Fortunately, the process is the same for iPhone and iPad. Just follow these steps to turn My Photo Stream on or off on an iOS device.

1. On your device, open Settings.
2. Tap on your Apple ID account.
3. Tap iCloud > Photos.
4.  Switch Upload to My Photo Stream on or off.

If you want to turn My Photo Stream on and off on your Mac:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Click Photos > Preferences > iCloud.
3. Check the box next to My Photo Stream.

And finally, if you want to turn My Photo Stream on or off with your Windows PC:

1. Open the iCloud for Windows app.
2. Sign in to your iCloud account if you’re not already signed in.
3. Next to Photos, click Options.
4. Select the checkbox next to My Photo Stream.
5. Click Done. 

Troubleshooting My Photo Stream

If you don’t see your most recent pics from your other devices when you open your Photo Stream, there could be a couple of different issues at play. Below are some common problems and what you can do to fix them.

If you’re looking for a specific picture, remember that My Photo Stream only keeps your last 1,000 pictures for 30 days. 

How do I get My Photo Stream to update?

Here are some of the more common issues and fixes you can try to get your Photo Stream updated:

• Use the same Apple ID. My Photo Stream only syncs with the Apple ID it’s connected to; ensure that you’re logged into the same Apple ID on all of your devices.
• Turn on My Photo Stream on all devices. Even though your iPhone might have My Photo Stream enabled, your other devices might not.
• Connect your iPhone to Wi-Fi. Keep your iPhone connected to a Wi-Fi network. My Photo Stream won’t update using cellular data.
• Plug your iPhone into power. My Photo Stream can’t sync if the device’s battery is below 20%.

Why did My Photo Stream disappear?

If you’ve been using My Photo Stream but suddenly notice that the album has disappeared, here are a couple of possible reasons:

• You turned on iCloud Photos. If you have both My Photo Stream and iCloud Photos turned on at the same time, then all of your pics will appear in the Recents album.
• You signed in with a different Apple ID. As mentioned earlier, if you change the Apple ID you’re using, then your Photo Stream will disappear.
• You accidentally turned off My Photo Stream. You can turn My Photo Stream back on by going to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos and tap the Upload to My Photo Stream switch.

My Photo Stream is a great feature that allows you to keep all of your most recent pictures in sync across all of your devices. It saves you time transferring pictures back and forth, especially if you like to use your iPhone camera to take pics and then edit them on your computer. And hopefully, you’ll be able to use My Photo Stream to make your process easier and faster.

The post How to access your recent photos anywhere with My Photo Stream appeared first on Backlight.

Thankfully, iPhone is just as friendly with Windows computers as it is with Macs. Read on to see how you can transfer your pictures via your USB cable or by using a cloud service like iCloud.

Before you transfer photos from your iPhone

If you have a massive photo library, it can take a lot of time to transfer it in full, or to find those several photos you actually wanted to move. So before you start, clean up your photo library with Gemini Photos. This app will find similar shots, duplicates, blurry photos, and other clutter, so you can trim a few gigabytes off your photo collection before transferring it.

To clear all the unneeded photos, download Gemini Photos and follow these steps:

1. Launch Gemini Photos and grant it access to your photos.
2. As the app finds the first few photos, tap Similar.
3. Tap on a month and review group of photos, selecting those you want to delete.
4. Tap Move to Trash.
5. When you’re done, tap Empty Trash.
6. Now tap Your Library at the top to go through other categories like Duplicates, Screenshots, Notes, Videos, and Blurred.

How to transfer photos from an iPhone to a computer with iTunes

Even though you won’t be opening iTunes to transfer pictures from your iPhone to your computer, you’ll still need to have it installed in order for your iPhone to be properly recognized when you plug it in.

If your computer already has iTunes installed, you can follow the steps below. Otherwise, you’ll need to download iTunes and install it beforehand.

1. Connect your iPhone to your PC.
2. Unlock your iPhone and tap Trust This Computer.
3. In Windows 7, go to My Computer, or in Windows 10, go to This PC.
4. Your iPhone should appear under either Portable Device or Devices.
5. Click iPhone > DCIM.
6. Select the pictures and videos you want, then drag and drop them into the folder where you want to save them.

While you certainly can use this method to transfer your entire photo library from your iPhone, you might find it more convenient if you only want to transfer select pictures or videos.

How to copy photos from an iPhone to a PC without iTunes

Fortunately, iTunes isn’t the only way to transfer your iPhone pictures to your computer. If your computer has Windows 10 installed, you can use the Windows Photos app that comes with the operating system. Or you can wirelessly transfer all of your pictures and videos using your iCloud account.

How to import photos from an iPhone to a PC with Windows Photos

Similar to transferring pictures with File Explorer, Windows Photos requires you to connect your iPhone to your PC physically. But Windows Photos makes it a little easier to move new pics and videos, and it will help manage your entire photo library on your computer.

To get started, plug your iPhone into your computer with your USB cable and follow the steps below:

1. On your PC, open Windows Photos.
2. In the top-right corner, click Import > From a USB device.
3. Your photos should be ready to be imported.
4. Select or deselect photos, depending on what you want to import.
5. Click Continue.

And that’s it! Just let the transfer finish and don’t unplug your iPhone until it has completed. 

How to sync iPhone photos to a PC using iCloud

If you have an iCloud account, you can sync all of the pictures you take with your iPhone to your computer without ever having to plug it in. First, you need to make sure iCloud Photo is enabled on your iPhone.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap on your name > iCloud > Photos.
3. Switch on iCloud Photos.

Now you need to get iCloud set up on your PC.

1. Download and install iCloud for Windows.
2. Restart your PC.
3. Open iCloud for Windows.
4. Sign in to iCloud with your Apple ID.
5. Check the box next to Photos.
6. Click Apply.

Depending on how large your photo library is, this process can take some time. The good news is that the first time will be the longest because it’s syncing your entire library. As long as you keep these settings turned on, your PC will automatically update your library as you take new pictures with your iPhone.

Transferring pictures from your iPhone to your computer couldn’t be easier — even if you’re using a Windows computer. And like most things iPhone-related, there are several ways you can go about it. Hopefully, you found the method above helpful and you’re now keeping your photo library on both your computer and your iPhone entirely in sync.

The post How to transfer photos from your iPhone to your Windows PC appeared first on Backlight.

If you’re starting to run out of space on iCloud, the obvious answer may seem like paying to upgrade your account. Keep reading to see what other steps you can take first to free up space and to learn about what else is stored in your iCloud — and what might be taking up a lot of storage without you realizing it.

Why is my iCloud storage full?

If you’re not familiar with iCloud, you might not realize what’s taking up all your storage space. Because iCloud is used for iPhone or iPad backups, as well as to store your entire photo library, the 5GB you get with a free iCloud account may not be enough. 

Some of the data that you can sync to iCloud includes:

• Photos
• Videos
• iPhone/iPad Backups
• Contacts
• Calendars
• Files
• Photos
• Notes
• Safari data (bookmarks, reading lists, and passwords)

How to see what’s in your iCloud storage

Thankfully, it’s easy to manage your iCloud storage directly on your iPhone (no computer required). To check what’s taking up so much space on your iCloud account:

1. On your iPhone, open Settings.
2. Tap [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage.

At the top of the screen, you’ll see what’s taking up space on your iCloud account based on categories. And then, further down on this screen, you’ll see how much storage space each app specifically is using.

How to clear iCloud storage

Just because you’re starting to run out of space on iCloud doesn’t mean your only option is to pay to upgrade your account. There are actually quite a few steps you can take to clean and free up some of your iCloud storage.

• Clean up your photo library.
• Delete old backups.
• Remove old files.
• Clean up text messages.
• Delete unused app data.
• Empty your trash.

Step 1. Clean up your photo library

When you have iCloud Photos turned on, every picture and video you take automatically gets synced. But the same is true for all those other photos you took where the angle was bad or it came out blurry. And actually, the same is true for every screenshot you’ve taken; it all gets automatically synced to iCloud.

Fortunately, you can use our very own app, Gemini Photos, to scan your photo library and quickly remove the pictures you don’t want anymore. Before you start cleaning up your library, it’s important to double-check that iCloud Photos is turned on on your phone by going to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos. Then start cleaning up your photo library using Gemini Photos.

1. Download Gemini Photos from the App Store.
2. Open the app and let it scan your library.
3. Tap Similar.
4. Your similar photos will be grouped together by month. Tap on a month, then tap on a group of pictures to start with.
5. Select which ones to get rid of.
6. Tap Move to Trash.
7. Once you’ve gone through the similar pictures, tap Similar > Your Library.
8. Now you can clean up other categories like Duplicates, Screenshots, Blurry, and more.

Why is my iCloud storage full after deleting photos?

As a safety feature, iCloud will hold onto your photos for 30 days in case you delete a picture by accident. So after you’ve used Gemini Photos to clean up, you’ll need to also remove them from your Recently Deleted section in Photos.

1. On your iPhone, open Photos.
2. Tap Albums > Recently Deleted.
3. Tap Select > Delete All.
4. Confirm Delete All.

Step 2. Delete outdated backups  

If you have both an iPhone and iPad using the same iCloud account or you regularly upgrade your device each year, then you probably have multiple backup files taking up space on iCloud. You can check what backups you have saved on your iCloud account directly from your phone.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage >Backups.
3.  Tap on the old device backup > Delete Backup.
4. Confirm Delete Backup.

Step 3. Remove old files

One of the great features of iCloud is iCloud Drive. Not only does it keep all of your content in sync across your devices, but it also acts as a cloud service like Google Drive or Dropbox. But again, the biggest you’re likely to run into is the 5 GB of free storage. 

You can view what’s taking up space in your iCloud Drive using the Files app.

1. Open the Files app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Browse > iCloud Drive.
3. Tap Select and choose the files you want to delete.
4. Tap the trash can icon at the bottom. 

Step 4. Clean up text messages 

If you send a lot of texts in Messages — or, more specifically, if you send a lot of pictures and GIFs — then you could be using up a lot of storage on iCloud without even realizing it. Here’s a quick way to see how much space your individual conversations are taking up:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Messages > Top Conversations.
3. You can delete entire conversations by tapping Edit.
4. Select all of the conversations you want to delete, then tap the trash can icon.

Step 5. Delete unused app data

Other third-party apps that you download from the App Store can also use iCloud to help sync your data across all of your devices. So, if you have an app you don’t use much anymore, you might want to remove that from your iCloud account to save space.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage.
3. Scroll down and tap on the app.
4. Tap Delete Data. 

Step 6. Take out the trash  

When you’re cleaning up, you usually spend so much time sifting through your data that it’s easy to forget that, in most cases, you still have to empty the trash in various apps. But, like pictures in the Photos app, if it’s sitting in the trash and was on your iCloud account, then it’s still eating up storage on iCloud for the time being. Here are a couple of other places you can go back and check.

The Files app on your iPhone:

1. Open the app.
2. Tap Browse > Recently Deleted > Select > Delete All.

If you’re using an @icloud.com account in the Mail app on your iPhone:

1. Open the app.
2. Tap Trash.
3. Tap Edit and then Delete All.

Getting more iCloud storage

If you’ve gotten rid of everything you can from your iCloud account but it’s still not enough, don’t worry. As you read earlier, you can easily upgrade your storage as long as you don’t mind paying a bit for it.

How to buy more iCloud storage

You can buy more iCloud storage directly on your iPhone using your Apple ID.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Change Storage Plan.
3. Choose the storage plan you’d like.
4. Follow the prompts to complete the purchase.

How much does it cost to upgrade iCloud storage?

Apple currently offers three storage tiers. The great thing is that if you’re on a family account, you can choose to share the storage with the other accounts.

• 50 GB for $0.99/month
• 200 GB for $2.99/month
• 2 TB for $9.99/month

Can I get more iCloud storage for free?

The only iCloud storage that you can get for free is the default 5 GB. There is no way to get more iCloud storage for free.

If you’ve been seeing that iCloud Storage Full message, it’s time to clean things up. Hopefully, one of the tips above will help you free up enough space to keep using your free iCloud account. But if that’s not enough for your pictures and videos, you can always upgrade to get more storage.

The post iCloud Storage Full: How to free up space in iCloud for your photos appeared first on Backlight.

Our favorite mini printers for iPhone

Mini printers are portable, easy to use, and won’t make a mess in your purse or pocket. They may not have the crisp photo quality that you’ll get from pricier desktop printers, but they are great for printing decent photos on the fly. Here they are — the best photo printers for iPhone pictures:

1. Canon Ivy Mobile Mini Printer: Great for printing directly from social media
2. Polaroid Zip Wireless Mini Printer: Ink-free printing on the go
3. HP Sprocket Select: Print straight from social media
4. Canon Selphy CP1300: A mini printer for high-resolution prints
5. Fujifilm Instax Mini Link Smart Phone Printer: Print photos from your videos
6. Victure Portable Photo Printer: One-touch printing from your smartphone
7. Lifeprint Portable Photo Printer: Make your videos come to life with augmented reality

1. Canon Ivy Mobile Mini Printer: Great for printing directly from social media

This super-portable printer creates 2×3 photos with a peel-and-stick backing for fun on-the-go prints that you can share with your friends and family. 

To use the Canon Ivy, you need to connect via Bluetooth and install the Canon Ivy Mobile Mini Print app. The special photo paper used in the Canon Ivy is smudge-proof, tear-proof, and water-resistant, and at 5.6 ounces, it is truly pocket-sized. 

Canon Ivy Mobile Printer on Amazon

2. Polaroid Zip Wireless Mini Printer: Ink-free printing on the go

The Polaroid Zip Mini Printer enables you to print your photos no matter where your adventures take you. There are no messy ink cartridges, just special full-color ZINK photo paper that is water-resistant and smudge-proof. 

Download the free Polaroid mobile app to unlock fun editing features, including stickers, borders, and text overlays. The Polaroid Zip connects to your iPhone with a Wi-Fi connection to create lasting memories from your favorite photos.

Polaroid Zip on Amazon

3. HP Sprocket Select: Print from social media

With the HP Sprocket Select, you can print your photos directly from social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. All you need is a Bluetooth connection and the HP Sprocket App. 

Curate your photos within the app and access fun features, frames, filters, and stickers to add to your photos before printing on HP ZINK photo paper. Ink-free technology makes it easy to print full-color photos on sticky-backed paper that you can use for all of your creative projects. 

HP Sprocket Select on Amazon

4. Canon Selphy CP1300: An iPhone photo printer for high-resolution prints

The Canon Selphy CP1300 is a bit larger than other mini printers on this list. It uses Canon’s dye sublimation printing process to produce 4×6 prints at a crisp 300×300 dpi resolution. 

The Selphy uses Wi-Fi to connect to your iPhone or computer and also works with Apple Airprint for an easy connection. With the Canon Selphy, you can print up to 108 photos using precut photo stock and a Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery. 

Canon Selphy CP1300 on Amazon

5. Fujifilm Instax Mini Link Smart Phone Printer: Print photos from your videos

The Instax Mini Link is a small smartphone printer with a sleek and light body design. It connects to your iPhone through Bluetooth and includes fun social features to connect up to 5 smartphones for printing photo collages using the party print feature. 

The user-friendly app includes 30 colorful frames, as well as unique customization features to personalize your photos. Photos can be printed from videos using special paper. Printing time is just 12 seconds, with another 90 seconds of developing time. 

Fujifilm Instax Printer on Amazon

6. Victure Portable Photo Printer: One-touch printing from your smartphone

The Victure Portable Photo Printer uses a convenient printer dock, allowing you to print directly from your phone. A stable connection is maintained using Bluetooth technology, printing 4×6 photos in brilliant color with great detail. 

Victure uses dye sublimation thermal transfer technology to create fade-proof, water-proof, and tear-resistant prints. You can use the Victure Photo Printer app to add stickers, create collages, or make your own greeting cards. 

Victure Portable Printer on Amazon

7. Lifeprint Portable Photo Printer: Make your videos come to life with augmented reality

The Lifeprint Portable Photo Printer is designed with social connection in mind. With Lifeprint, you can print photos from the next room or across the globe, sending a photo to any connected printer as easily as sending a text. Using a process called Hyperphoto, Lifeprint makes photos come to life like magic in your hands. 

Connect your iPhone over a Wi-Fi connection to print from anywhere onto 3×4.5 sticky-backed photo paper. Photos can also be customized before printing using the Lifeprint app. 

Lifeprint Portable Photo Printer on Amazon

With miniature iPhone photo printers, you can print photos to hang on your wall, use in creative projects, or send to friends. Unlike photos stored on your phone or computer, printed photos are memories you can hold in your hand for a physical reminder of your most special moments.

The post The best iPhone photo printers that fit in your backpack appeared first on Backlight.

Is storing and sharing with Google Photos safe? 

There’s an obvious concern any time you upload your pictures to a service on the internet, and you should exercise that same level of concern when you upload to Google Photos. Even though Google goes to great lengths to secure their services, there’s always a chance of vulnerability and the risk that someone could get access to your pictures and videos. 

All this is to say that you should be cautious and use common sense with sensitive pics or videos before you upload them to Google Photos.

Are Google Photos private?

The simple answer is yes; by default, Google Photos is private. Everything you upload can only be seen by you. And thankfully, the only way to change one of your photos’ permissions is to log in to your account and share your photos with another user.

Can someone get access to my photos?

The only way someone can access your photos in Google Photos is if you choose to share them with that person. But keep in mind that when you share a picture with someone, Google Photos sends them a link. While it is unlikely that someone else will gain access to that link, if they do, they will also have access to your picture.

Can Google access my photos?

Yes, Google can and does access your photos. But that doesn’t mean that they’re going to use your pictures in ads for Google Photos or populate Google Image searches. According to some reports on the internet, what this access means is that Google can scan your photos for metadata to target you with advertising. 

Protecting your privacy in Google Photos

Even though you might only be uploading personal pictures or family videos to Google Photos, there are some extra steps you can take to help ensure that your photo library stays private.

How to create a private album in Google Photos

The great thing about Google Photos is that by default, your entire photo library is private. Follow these steps to create an album that only you can see:

1. On your iPhone, open the Google Photos app.
2. Tap Album > New Album.
3. Type a title for the album.
4. Tap Select photos.
5. Add the picture(s) or video(s) you want to that album.
6. Tap Add.

You don’t need to worry about getting all of the pictures you want into that album right now. You can always add more at any time.

How to hide photos in Google Photos

While Google Photos doesn’t have a “hide” feature, you can archive pictures, which will move them from your main library into an archive. Follow these step to archive a picture on Google Photos:

1. Select the photo(s) you want to archive.
2. In the upper-right corner, tap the ellipses.
3. Tap Archive.

How to create a shared album  

In addition to creating private albums, Google Photos also lets you create shared albums with other users. In Google Photos, you can actually turn any album into a shared album:

1. Open the album you want to share.
2. Tap the ellipses in the top-right corner.
3. Tap Options.
4. Turn on Share Album.

After you turn on the option to share an album, you’ll be able to invite people and decide whether or not they can add their own pictures, like your pictures, or even leave comments.

Privacy tips for Google Photos 

If you’re new to using Google Photos, all this might sound a little daunting, but as you use the app, there are a couple of privacy tips you can mind.

• Only share pictures with people you know.
• Check the Sharing settings on each album you create.
• Don’t upload pictures to Shared Albums from people you don’t know.
• Turn on Remove Geo-Location in Items Shared by Link.
• Turn off Google Location History in the Google Photos Settings.
• Occasionally check the Sharing settings on your account to keep things private.

Google Photos is a great service for your entire photo library. It’s easy to use and has some of the best tools for keeping your library organized. But like any other cloud service, you should be careful about what you sync and make sure you’re doing everything you can to keep your pictures and videos safe. That said, hopefully this article gave you some things to think about and helped give you the information you need to use Google Photos securely and confidently.

The post Google Photos and privacy: How to keep your photos safe appeared first on Backlight.

Don’t worry; if you keep reading, you’ll learn how to quickly share a couple of photos with friends, transfer your entire photo library to a new iPhone, or even keep your library in sync across all of your devices.

Before you start syncing photos

Depending on the size of your photo library, it can take a decent amount of time to transfer all of your pictures. So before you start syncing all of your photos and videos to another device, it might be a good idea to clean up some of the clutter. Use an app like Gemini Photos to scan the pictures on your iPhone and help you quickly sort through duplicates, blurry images, similar-looking photos, and more.

After you download Gemini Photos from the App Store, you can start cleaning up your pictures:

1. Open Gemini Photos and let it scan.
2. Tap on a category like Duplicates.
3. Tap on a group of photos and select the pictures you want to delete.
4. After you’ve gone through all of the photos, tap Delete Duplicates.
5. Tap Your Library at the top to go through other categories like Similar, Screenshots, Notes, and Blurred.

Four ways to transfer photos from iPhone to iPhone or iPad

There are a few different ways you can go about moving pictures from your iPhone to another device. The best method for you will depend mostly on how many photos and videos you want to transfer. Here are your options:

1. AirDrop from iPhone to iPhone
2. Sync photos from iPhone to iPad using iCloud
3. Transfer pictures from iPhone to iPhone using Shared Albums in iCloud
4. Transfer photos from iPhone to iPhone using iTunes

1. How to AirDrop photos from iPhone to iPhone

If you only want to transfer a couple of pictures from one iPhone to another, then the quickest and easiest way to do that is with AirDrop. When you have both iPhones in the same room, you can start sending your pictures and videos by:

1. Opening the Photos app
2. Tapping Select and choosing the pics you want to share
3. Tapping Share > AirDrop
4. Selecting the other iPhone

If you don’t see the other iPhone as an available option, make sure it’s set as discoverable over AirDrop. Go to Settings > General > AirDrop and select Everyone.

2. How to sync photos from iPhone to iPad using iCloud Photos

Maybe you’ve started using an iPad in addition to your iPhone and want to keep everything in sync, including your pictures. Thankfully, you can use iCloud to keep everything in sync wirelessly. 

To start using iCloud Photos, follow these steps on both your iPhone and then your iPad:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap your name > iCloud > Photos.
3. Turn iCloud Photos on.

It’s important to make sure that you’re signed in to the same iCloud account on both devices. Otherwise, you’ll be syncing your pictures to different iCloud accounts.

3. How to sync pictures with iCloud Shared Albums

You can also use iCloud to share photos from your iPhone to a friend’s iPhone with Shared Albums. Unlike AirDrop, the two iPhones don’t need to be in the same room. As long as both phones have an internet connection, the shared album will update with new pictures and videos. 

Creating a shared album on iCloud is simple and can be done directly in the Photos app on either iPhone.

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap +.
3. Tap New Shared Album.
4. Type in a name for the album and hit Next.
5. Add the person or people you want to access the shared album and tap Create.
6. Tap the Shared Album and hit + to select pictures and videos.
7. Tap Done to finish.

4. How to sync photos from iPhone to iPhone without iCloud 

Of course, if you want to move your photos from one iPhone to another without using iCloud, you can always import them to your computer and sync the new iPhone via iTunes.

If you’re using a Mac:

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer using the USB cable.
2. Unlock your iPhone and tap Trust This Computer.
3. On your Mac, open the Photos app.
4. The Import screen should automatically appear with all the photos and videos from your iPhone. If it doesn’t, click on the iPhone in the Photos sidebar.
5. Click Import All New Photos or select the pictures you want and click Import Selected.

If you want to import your pictures using a Windows PC:

1. Connect your iPhone to your PC.
2. Unlock your phone and tap Trust This Computer.
3. In Windows 7, click on My Computer. If you’re using Windows 10, click on This PC.
4. Your iPhone should appear under either Portable Device or Devices.
5. Click on your iPhone’s name > DCIM.
6. Select the pictures and videos you want, then drag and drop them into the folder where you want to save them.

After you’ve imported your pictures, you can disconnect the old iPhone. Connect the new iPhone and follow these steps:

1. Open iTunes.
2. Click on the iPhone icon at the top.
3. Click on Photos in the sidebar.
4. Check Sync Photos.
5. Select where you want to sync your photos from. (This will vary depending on your computer’s operating system.)
6. Choose to either sync all or only selected folders.
7. Click Apply in the bottom-right corner.

iPhone has made taking great-looking pictures a breeze, and sharing them is just as easy. Whether you’re sharing them with a friend, transferring them to a new phone, or just keeping your devices in sync, there are a handful of ways you can go about moving your photos around. Hopefully, this article has helped you determine which method is the best for you.

The post How to transfer photos from your iPhone to another iPhone or iPad appeared first on Backlight.