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               Apple to Shut Down My Photo Stream on 26 July 2023

   Adam Engst

   In a just-published support article, [1]Apple writes:

     My Photo Stream is scheduled to be shut down on July 26, 2023. As
     part of this transition, new photo uploads to My Photo Stream from
     your devices will stop one month before, on June 26, 2023. Any
     photos uploaded to the service before that date will remain in
     iCloud for 30 days from the date of upload and will be available to
     any of your devices where My Photo Stream is currently enabled. By
     July 26, 2023, there will be no photos remaining in iCloud, and the
     service will be shut down.

   [2]My Photo Stream (originally called Photo Stream) was Apple's first
   iCloud-based solution for syncing photos between devices. It didn't
   support videos, stored only your 1000 most recent photos on each
   device, kept photos online for only 30 days, didn't work over cellular
   connections, downloaded smaller photo versions on iOS devices, and
   wasn't accessible from the iCloud website. [3]iCloud Photos (initially
   known as iCloud Photo Library) is better in nearly every way, except
   that My Photo Stream didn't count against your iCloud storage quota,
   making it free. See '[4]iCloud Photo Library: The Missing FAQ' (15
   April 2015).

   I haven't used or recommended My Photo Stream for years, but if you
   still find it useful, I suggest paying for enough [5]iCloud+ storage to
   turn on iCloud Photos for better syncing and additional protection
   against losing images. Per month, 50 GB of storage costs $0.99, 200 GB
   is $2.99, and 2 TB is $9.99. Check the size of your Photos Library,
   stored by default in ~/Pictures, to see how much you need beyond the 5
   GB Apple gives everyone for free. Apple could stave off some of the
   hard feelings caused by canceling My Photo Stream by increasing that
   free amount to 10 GB.

   [6]Read original article

References

   1. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210705
   2. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201317
   3. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204264
   4. https://tidbits.com/2015/04/15/icloud-photo-library-the-missing-faq/
   5. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201238
   6. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210705

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