With the recent release of the new version of Yosemite OS X 10.10.3 comes the long-anticipated Photos app for Mac. In addition, the iCloud Photo Library has come out of beta and is now ready for prime time! These new technologies change how we manage our photos between our mobile devices and our computers. But no major changes happen without their share of surprises, so here are the top 3 surprises from the new software.
Camera Roll is now All Photos
When you turn on the iCloud Photo Library on your iPhone or iPad (found within the iCloud settings), your Camera Roll disappears. It is replaced with a new All Photos area. Because all of your photos are now in the cloud and syncing to your Mac through the iCloud Photo Library, there is no need to maintain a separate Camera Roll. Another interesting fact is that the Photo Stream is still available, but you may have to select the Upload to My Photo Stream option also found in the iCloud > Photos settings.
You can Optimize Storage
All of your photos and videos are uploaded into iCloud at full size and resolution. There is a very cool feature that allows you to Optimize Storage on your mobile devices and on your Mac. When selected, your iPhone, iPad and Mac will only hold low resolution thumbnails of all the images, and when you need the high-resolution version for printing, you can pull it out of the cloud.
More than 5 GB will cost you
If you have more than 5 GB of photos and videos, you are now expected to pay Apple for extra hard drive space. Your iCloud account comes with 5 GB of free online storage. If you happen to have more photos and videos, which most people do, you will need to pony up for more space.
Here are the monthly costs for more iCloud storage space:
- 20 GB: $0.99
- 200 GB: $3.99
- 500 GB: $9.99
- 1 TB: $19.99
So far, I really like the Photos app and the iCloud Photo Library, but I’m just not sure how everyone will react to the change. As we continue to work with the software, we’ll let you know what best practices, workflows, and secret features we find.
Visit iMore.com for a comprehensive look at the Photos app and the iCloud Photos Library.
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