iPhone 4s 8.1.3 - backup photos, view offline

[hermitical]

So, trying to help out my better half.

She has a work phone, iPhone 4s iOS 8.1.3, 5gb of storage and she will not seek a replacement (even though it only has a few hours battery, audio keeps failing etc).

3.9GB is taken up with photos and videos and there is only about 220MB free.

There is an iOS update from way back that has not been installed (is over 900MB), and of course very little room to manoeuvre in general.

If I back up the photos and videos to the iCloud Photo Library will they always be available for offline viewing? I ask as there are only 109 images and less than 10 videos and they are mostly of our dogs, including those that have died over the years. She wants to always be able to look at them, even when there is no connection (rural, travelling etc).

I use Google Photos on my Moto G and it has been a godsend, and she has a Google account but Google Photos needs iOS 10 or above so no can do. Dropbox not an option as she can't remember password and believe me it will be too much bother. I don't have any experience with other cloud based storage.

If you back up to iCloud Photo Library can you then automatically back those up to Google Photos and if so at the format that doesn't eat into the free 15GB from Google?

Thanks for any help you can give, Apple stuff is not my forte!

 

[cybershot]

iCloud is a sync system. So the hard part is getting them into iCloud and then trying to get your phone to free up the local storage without actually deleting the photo off both the phone and iCloud.

There’s no easy way to do this other than syncing to iCloud. Using a computer to then Download the photos too. Deleting everything from iCloud. And then re-uploading it all.

Your easiest route is to install google photos. Let it back up the camera roll to google photos and then delete the photos from the device. Which will also delete them from iCloud. But they will still be viewable in google photos. All be it they will be not be as good a quality as the originals. Although you
May not care or even notice. Photos uploaded to google photos from the google photos app won’t take up your google space and will be part of the free photos storage.

ETA. Sorry just noticed you can’t use google photos.

 

[hermitical]

yeah, Google Photos was my plan then went to install it and it said iOS 10 or above was needed.

 

[cybershot]

Actually there is another way. Being dense. Make sure everything is saved to iCloud.

Unlink iCloud from the device.

Delete the photos from the device while iCloud is unlinked.

Relink iCloud and photos should reappear but not be downloaded to the device until you click on it.

Still recommend you have a physical backup of everything g before attempting this.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Transfer the photos to a PC, delete them from your phone, then install the newer iOS.

 

[hermitical]

Actually there is another way. Being dense. Make sure everything is saved to iCloud.

Unlink iCloud from the device.

Delete the photos from the device while iCloud is unlinked.

Relink iCloud and photos should reappear but not be downloaded to the device until you click on it.

Still recommend you have a physical backup of everything g before attempting this.

Just to be clear, once the device is relinked to iCloud will the files be viewable, with or without a connection? My gut says not initially as they would need a connection to d/l it the first time it was to be viewed, after that I presume a smaller version would be kept on the device?

I know being without some form of connection is pretty unusual but my wife is very wary of over-using data (colleague got stung for a huge amount on a work phone) coupled with the fact our connection in semi-rural Somerset is patchy and she does some travelling abroad with work.

Transfer the photos to a PC, delete them from your phone, then install the newer iOS.

Thank you. Yes, that's a way of getting the update to iOS 9.3.5 but that is my lesser concern, the main thing is syncing the photo and video files away from the phone but still having them available offline. As I said Google Photos needs at least iOS 10 or above

 

[Saul Goodman]

Thank you. Yes, that's a way of getting the update to iOS 9.3.5 but that is my lesser concern, the main thing is syncing the photo and video files away from the phone but still having them available offline. As I said Google Photos needs at least iOS 10 or above

Ah, so the update is not iOS 10 or above.

 

[hermitical]

That's the version mentioned on the phone, I hadn't thought to check what it might go up to but had a look before replying and 9.3.5 seems to be the end of the line for the 4s

 

[sunnysidedown]

If you have access to a Mac you could use something like PhoneView to access everything on your phone (images/SMS/music etc).

Search for it here: www.macupdate.com

There may be some similar software on windows.

 

[cybershot]

Just to be clear, once the device is relinked to iCloud will the files be viewable, with or without a connection? My gut says not initially as they would need a connection to d/l it the first time it was to be viewed, after that I presume a smaller version would be kept on the device?

I know being without some form of connection is pretty unusual but my wife is very wary of over-using data (colleague got stung for a huge amount on a work phone) coupled with the fact our connection in semi-rural Somerset is patchy and she does some travelling abroad with work.

I would do it this way. Ensure you’re on WiFi for all of this.

Go to iCloud.com. Log in. Check all your photos and videos are there.

From iCloud.com or by installing the iCloud software on a pc. Download all your photos and videos so you’ve got them backed up somewhere in case this all goes horribly wrong. iCloud is not a backup system. It’s a sync system, and many people fail to understand that.

Once you’ve got a full backup. In iPhone settings. Unlink it from iCloud.

Go into photos app and delete everything.

Go back to iPhone settings and relink the iCloud account.

At this point if you’re photos don’t reappear you may need to connect it to power. At which point you should start seeing the thumbnails of all your photos again back in the photos app. They will only download once you click on them but take into account the thumbnails will still take up some space.

Update the iOS.

 

[cybershot]

Also for what it’s worth. If the phone has sensitive data on it for her work she should really be encouraging them to get her a new phone. The device is a risk as it no longer gets security updates as part of the newer iOS versions.

 

[hermitical]

If you have access to a Mac you could use something like PhoneView to access everything on your phone (images/SMS/music etc).

Search for it here: www.macupdate.com

There may be some similar software on windows.

Not personally, I guess we might be able to ask around.
But yeah, that would help with downloading them, it's the offline viewing after that on the phone I am trying to get to.

I would do it this way. Ensure you’re on WiFi for all of this.

Go to iCloud.com. Log in. Check all your photos and videos are there.

From iCloud.com or by installing the iCloud software on a pc. Download all your photos and videos so you’ve got them backed up somewhere in case this all goes horribly wrong. iCloud is not a backup system. It’s a sync system, and many people fail to understand that.

Once you’ve got a full backup. In iPhone settings. Unlink it from iCloud.

Go into photos app and delete everything.

Go back to iPhone settings and relink the iCloud account.

At this point if you’re photos don’t reappear you may need to connect it to power. At which point you should start seeing the thumbnails of all your photos again back in the photos app. They will only download once you click on them but take into account the thumbnails will still take up some space.

Update the iOS.

Thank you. One last question, when you say thumbnails do you mean as I understand the term, mini in dimension as well as file size, or does it just mean a more compressed version that will still look decent enough on an iPhone screen? If the latter is the file size different enough to make this worthwhile?

Good grief, how do you see the file size of a photo in an iPhone? Literally touches on mine and I can see all the info

 

[Saul Goodman]

If all you're worried about is viewing the photos online, upload them to Flickr or some similar site. You can put the videos on Youtube and set them to private.

 

[hermitical]

Also for what it’s worth. If the phone has sensitive data on it for her work she should really be encouraging them to get her a new phone. The device is a risk as it no longer gets security updates as part of the newer iOS versions.

Good thinking, I'll mention it. Though she only keeps a weeks worth of emails (well until yesterday she hadn't updated her MS password so nothing had been updated for maybe 9 months or so!). It is primarily used as an old fashioned phone and sms/WhatsApp to a few work people/friends. Its other major use is for watching MSNBC and knitting podcasts on YouTube!

 

[hermitical]

If all you're worried about is viewing the photos online, upload them to Flickr or some similar site. You can put the videos on Youtube and set them to private.

Nope, it's the definite ability to view them offline that I am worried about (after probably freeing up space on some sync service such as Cybershot has mentioned)

 

[cybershot]

Thumbnails are the small previews you see when You go into the photos app before you tap on the main photo. When you tap on the main photo it will download the full resolution picture.

iPhone should magically look after its space if it’s low but with the older devices with not a lot of space it doesn’t work so well.

If things like Facebook for argument sake is taking up hundreds of meg of space just delete it. And reinstall it afterwards. As sometimes that’s the only way to clear out app caches. Or just delete it full stop and access it from sarfari instead. The Facebook app is just massive bloatware. Ditto for Twitter.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Nope, it's the definite ability to view them offline that I am worried about (after probably freeing up space on some sync service such as Cybershot has mentioned)

Do you need to be able to view them from a phone, or will downloading them to your PC suffice?

 

[hermitical]

Thumbnails are the small previews you see when You go into the photos app before you tap on the main photo. When you tap on the main photo it will download the full resolution picture.

iPhone should magically look after its space if it’s low but with the older devices with not a lot of space it doesn’t work so well.

If things like Facebook for argument sake is taking up hundreds of meg of space just delete it. And reinstall it afterwards. As sometimes that’s the only way to clear out app caches. Or just delete it full stop and access it from sarfari instead. The Facebook app is just massive bloatware. Ditto for Twitter.

Yeah, nothing like that. After photos (3.1GB, the next largest is WhatsApp (129MB) then Mail (68.9MB)
She doesn't do social media so Facebook, Twitter etc aren't on there. She'll look at crafty things on Instagram but has no account and just views them on Safari, she also uses Safari for YouTube and also looking at Ravelry

Do you need to be able to view them from a phone, or will downloading them to your PC suffice?

Got to be the phone I'm afraid, she finds great joy in being able to look at photos of our dogs at any moment
Who can blame her? (Only one of these still around )

 

[cybershot]

Nope, it's the definite ability to view them offline that I am worried about (after probably freeing up space on some sync service such as Cybershot has mentioned)

In that case. This won’t solve the issue. If she wants to have every photo available for offline viewing. They need to be on the device. Taking up that 3.1GB of space. There’s no way around it other than getting a phone with larger capacity.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Yeah, nothing like that. After photos (3.1GB, the next largest is WhatsApp (129MB) then Mail (68.9MB)
She doesn't do social media so Facebook, Twitter etc aren't on there. She'll look at crafty things on Instagram but has no account and just views them on Safari, she also uses Safari for YouTube and also looking at Ravelry



Got to be the phone I'm afraid, she finds great joy in being able to look at photos of our dogs at any moment
Who can blame her? (Only one of these still around )

Can't blame her. Lovely dogs!

 

[hermitical]

Bah, Google Photos would have been the ideal once she'd got the app versions of the images on her phone. Mine only takes up about 250MB at the moment. Maybe I'll get a photo album for her to keep in her bag....

Thanks folks. I'll just repeat a question from earlier then I'll leave you be! What's an easy way to see the file size of these images and videos on the phone? Like I said, 2 taps on my Moto G and I've got all the metadata

 

[B.I.G]

Don’t do the update. Leave it as it is. Make sure the photos are backed up in two places other than the phone.

 

[cybershot]

Method three I think is the only way of doing it without installing yet another app or plugging into pc.

How to Find the File Size of an iOS Photo

 

[hermitical]

Okedoke, bizarre but there we go!
I guess we're stuck as is. I'll just need to make sure the files get synced then regularly backed up so as and when the camera dies we still have the images etc. Hopefully she'll get an Android phone, though when I broached it this evening it was "I don't want a phone called android"! She's only just turned 40!!

 

[hermitical]

edited as I posted too early