iPhone backup to iCloud

[terse rock]

Start out with this article from Apple, specifically the section for reducing the size of your iCloud Backup. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204247

You can see that I had to disable Genshin Impact because its so big (and there's no reason to back it up as its stored on their own servers anyway).

What you need to do is a cleanup exercise. Unfortunately, you cannot tell iCloud which ones to ignore and which ones to backup -- it's an all or nothing approach. However, you can go through and delete the ones you no longer want and it'll also delete from iCloud Photo Library. I would recommend you download all of your photos onto a secondary device (such as a Mac or PC) before doing mass deletion.

You don't have a computer, in general?

The easiest thing to do here is pay more to get a higher tier of cloud storage so everything is backed up. If you don't want to delete anything and do not have another device, you will have to rely on a cloud service -- iCloud is best if you're using iOS.

Otherwise, you just wont have a backup and will rely on the device not failing.

You could use a friend's computer and put the photos onto an external drive.

You would still have to pay for a hard drive / SSD / or USB stick.

Doing some research it does not appear that selective backup exists on iOS. There is a way to do it on macOS with some clever work arounds.

https://www.macworld.com/article/233409/how-to-selectively-choose-what-photos-sync-in-photos-for-mac.html

I'm afraid there is not an answer here that is free, you will spend money one way or another if you want that much data and a version of it backed up.

That's not how it works. Even if someone here worked at Apple, you're talking about months of code engineering. It isn't even in the feature set for the upcoming iOS 17.

So your options are: 1) get a secondary device you can back up the photos onto, 2) pay for a higher tier of iCloud storage, 3) work with a friend or family member to borrow their device and put them onto an external storage device

https://www.apple.com/feedback/

You can also email [e-mail] (Craig Federighi) requesting this feature. Keep in mind there's no guarantees and you're one voice in hundreds of millions of Apple users.

Would keep any emails to Craig short, professional, and to the point.

No lol.

We're not affiliated with Apple in anyway.

Nope.

We're home to Brandon Butch (independent YouTuber and content creator that covers Apple news and products).

https://www.youtube.com/@BrandonButch

He doesn't work at Apple.

We're simply an enthusiast community, just like thousands of others that enjoy a particular subject matter.

We do try to help people with problems and questions regarding Apple products. But we rely on our own knowledge and the public documentation provided by Apple. There's no special contacts or access we have. You have to contact Apple Support if you want an official channel of support.

Sure, you can contact Brandon (we ask that you not @ ping him in Discord though.)

I'm getting an answer for you, stand by.

[neat ocean]

[neat ocean]

[steel ice]

This is correct. No way of choosing what to back up in terms of photos/videos

I doubt it. It’s not something many people ask for and it would just complicate the feature. A simple on/off has been apples approach to iCloud since inception and I don’t see that changing

[half magnet]

As I mentioned previously, the only way to pick and choose what gets uploaded is to manually (and painstakingly) go through your camera roll and delete the photos you don’t need anymore.

Not gonna lie man, Brandon isn’t going to be able to get a feature implemented into iOS or iCloud any more than you can yourself with Apple’s feedback page.

[steel ice]

you can enable Optimize iPhone storage to have iOS auto delete photos from your phone and redownload as needed

It’s a must enable imo

[half magnet]

Brandon Butch? Nah, Brandon Cook, the direct subordinate to Tim Cook, next Apple CEO.

[steel ice]

Yeah, I can amplify things via my videos, since Apple watches them.. but at the end of the day it’s up to their dev team & other research to gain mass insight before implementing

For sure. I will remember it and continue monitoring for future changes

[orchid belfry]

Sorry for wasting your time Brandon, turns out this guy was playing dumb the whole time

[steel ice]

I don’t understand the point in that. SMH

[half magnet]

Unknown to you, but we have an ongoing issue with a member we banned joining on alternate accounts to troll around in here. This was just another one of those times, and boy was he smart(ish) about it.

[steel ice]

Welp. That’s a strange way to troll

[half magnet]

Agreed. He’s tried other (NSFW) means but we’ve made changes to prevent that, luckily