Alternative to iCloud Photos, to Sync / Manage Photos from iPhone to PC

pinchies on 19/05/2021 - 16:54
Last edited 19/05/2021 - 16:54

• I have an iPhone, and I use a PC.
• iCloud Photos syncing app for PC is very poor.
• I'm happy to pay for a service or solution.

I'm looking for an alternative solution for syncing my photos between my iPhone and my PC. Looking for feedback from people who have used options like Google Photos, or Dropbox Photo sync, and wondering if there are any other options out there that I have not heard of.

My phone is only 128GB and I'm frequently finding it completely full of media. Currently I'm periodically syncing all my photos to PC over wifi using an app on PC and iPhone (PhotoSync), however then I can't access the photos from the phone, only on my computer. I'm now wondering more specifically about people's experience with other cloud options that I might have missed.

Thanks in advance.

Internet

Comments

  • bdl on 19/05/2021 - 17:54

    https://www.photosync-app.com/home.html will help sync to PC.

    Google Photos is good as is Onedrive photos (both installable on your phone).

    Is it important for you to have a copy of photos on your PC or do you just want them on your phone and web-accessible?

    • pinchies on 19/05/2021 - 19:29

      Thanks… but as mentioned I am actually currently using photosync.

      Priority is to have them on PC first — which I currently have using photosync. However, I'm looking for cloud options that might let me continue to access them on my phone too. Curious if anyone else has a nice workflow that they can recommend.

      • bdl on 19/05/2021 - 21:09

        Photosync uploads to cloud as well as PC, just set up a new target

        also, what functionality did you want on your phone after uploading to cloud? viewing? editing?

  • Daabido on 19/05/2021 - 18:26
    -1

    Solution: Buy and use a Mac.

    • Hybroid on 19/05/2021 - 18:27

      …or just hackintosh one on a spare SSD. That's what I do to manage iPhone/iPad content much better than Windows or having to use/pay for dodgy third party apps. Although cannot stand OSX for daily use.

    • pinchies on 19/05/2021 - 19:31

      Thanks for that excellent suggestion. How much would it cost for a Mac with GPU performance equivalent to 1080Ti or better, and 2TB of NVME SSD? For reference, I paid $3000 for my PC a number of years ago. Less sarcastically, FWIW I actually switched from iMac 5K to PC after finding photo editing performance insufficient for my needs.

      • Daabido on 19/05/2021 - 20:16
        +1

        You're welcome. I assume about tree fiddy. The new entry level iMac or Mac mini is probably faster than your old iMac rig but if you sunk $3k into an anchor you may as well get the most out of it. Sounds like a good machine. My requirements are a lot less obviously.

  • Chandler on 19/05/2021 - 21:40
    +1

    If you're happy for it to not run in the background (thanks iOS…), Syncthing is an option.

  • chenyi1976 on 20/05/2021 - 08:46

    One possible solution is to use a mac mini as a home server. It could be very cheap if you get a second-handed old model. The most important thing is that mac mini is super quiet and low power consumption.

    Then you can easily sync photos from iCloud with mac mini. Then just setup folder sync tool between your mac mini and your pc.

    The mac mini can be served as a file server or a download station or movie station, the possibility is there.

  • jace88 on 20/05/2021 - 10:51
    +1

    1. OneDrive 1TB (get it with Office 365 Home/Personal subscriptions) - it'll sync to Microsoft cloud and then mirror onto your PC (or any other devices which support it eg NAS); can work with all your phones/devices too

    2. Google Photos + subscription - mindful T&Cs can change, not everyone loves Google, etc… but could be a good option as it allows both original photos (using your quota/storage) or using a compressed high quality version (which from June will also use your quota/storage)

    3. NAS - eg Synology NAS has it's own equivalent to the above two apps for photo uploads/sync from phone

    ps. I use all of the above with OneDrive being my preferred place to upload original photos/videos before they then get reflected onto my NAS and PC. After losing some important photos once in my life, not going to risk that happening again.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join