Set up Photo Stream
We reveal how to view your photos on all your devices
Apple’s My Photo Stream is an excellent way to manage and view your photos on all your devices. The automatic service syncs all your Apple devices using iCloud, meaning that your photos appear on your iPad, iPhone and Mac without the need to plug in a cable or send anything via email. You can view the past 30 days of photos on any device. In this tutorial, we show you how to set up My Photo Stream.
My Photo Stream can be used without turning on iCloud Photo Library, which would allow you to share more photos but has an associated cost.
1. Create an iCloud account
For Photo Stream to work you’ll need to have an active iCloud account. Usually you’ll create this when
setting up a new machine, but if you skipped that part it’s easy and free to open one now on your Mac or iOS device.
On your Mac, click on the System Preferences icon in the Dock, then select iCloud and enter your Apple ID. You’ll be given a few settings to enable, just make sure you click on Photos and ensure the My Photo Stream box is ticked.
To create an account on an iOS device, go to Settings, iCloud, and enter your Apple ID.
2. Enable iCloud in iPhoto
Now you’ll need to give applications permission to use it before any photos will be able to download. Launch iPhoto on your Mac and look in the left-hand column where you’ll find the Library, Recent and Sharing categories. Under the latter is iCloud. Click on this and then select the Use iCloud option.
If you’ve updated to the latest version of Yosemite, you’ll find that there is a new icon in your Dock that looks just like the Photos icon on your iPhone. That’s the new Photos app that replaces both iPhoto and Aperture. Launch it and if you want to set up just My Photo Stream and not iCloud Photo Library, click skip when Apple asks you to sign up. Now, go to Photos → Preferences in the navigation bar at the top of your screen, and click iCloud, then tick My Photo Stream.
3. Enable Photo Stream on your iPhone
As the iPhone is likely to be the device you use most for photography, having a working Photo Stream is important. To do so, you’ll need to go to Settings, then iCloud, then Photos. Here, you’ll want to make sure My Photo Stream is turned on.
If you own one of Apple’s newer iPhones, you may also see the Upload Burst Photos option, which will transfer only your favourite photos from Burst Mode if you enable it. This is something we’d recommend, otherwise your library would be swamped with duplicates of the same image.
4. Enable Photo Stream on your iPad
As the iPad is running the same software as the iPhone, the setup is pretty much identical. The one omission is the Upload Burst Photos option because this is a feature the iPad doesn’t have yet. To enable Photo Stream, go to Settings → iCloud → Photos and then ensure that the My Photo Stream button is green.
5. Take a picture to see how it works
With your iPhone or iPad, take a picture of something. Next, go to the Photos app on your Mac (or iPhoto if you’re still using it) and, as long as you’re connected to Wi-Fi, you should see the photo arrive shortly after you snapped it on your iOS device.
6. How many pictures can Photo Stream store?
While Photo Stream is very easy to use, understanding how the storage works can be a little more challenging. You are entitled to 1,000 photos, which is a large amount, and none of these count against your iCloud storage. One thing to note though, is that the images are only held on the iCloud servers for 30 days, so if you want to
back up iPhone photos on your Mac don’t forget to download them.
7. Sharing a screen
First off, you’ll also need to check that Photo Sharing is enabled by navigating to Settings → iCloud → Photos on your iPhone or iPad and switch on iCloud Photo Sharing. Then go to the Photos app on your device and tap the Shared icon at the bottom of the screen. After the library has updated, you’ll see the option to Create New Stream. Tap this, name the Stream, and then add the contacts you wish to share your photos with. Bear in mind that the recipients will need to have Apple IDs and iCloud accounts to access the Stream.