Here is a look at the Advantages & Disadvantages of Photo Stream and the steps to Enable Photo Stream on iPhone or iPad.
Enable Photo Stream on iPhone and iPad
The Photo Stream feature on iPhone allows you to upload up to 1,000 photos to your Photo Stream on iCloud and view them on all your iCloud connected devices.
Once Photo Stream is enabled on iPhone, the Photos that you shoot on your device will be automatically uploaded to your iCloud Account in My Photo Stream Album.
The uploading of Photos from iPhone to My Photo Stream takes place, whenever your device is connected to Wi-Fi and the Camera App is not being used.
Advantages of Photo Stream
The main advantage of Photo Stream is that Photos stored on Photo Stream do not count towards your iCloud Storage Limit.
However, you need be aware that Photos uploaded to Photo Stream will only remain accessible for a period of 30 days, after which they get automatically deleted.
This practically allows you to shoot and store up to 1,000 New Photos on iCloud and transfer them to your computer within 30 days.
Another feature of Photo Stream is its default tendency to automatically sync photos across all your devices. This means that Photos taken on iPhone can be viewd on your iPad, Mac and Windows computer.
1. Steps to Enable Photo Stream on iPhone and iPad
All that is required to Enable Photo Stream on iPhone is to toggle ON the option to Upload Photos to My Photo Stream.
1. Open Settings on your iPhone > scroll down and tap on Photos.
2. On the Photos screen, move the toggle next to My Photo Stream to ON position.
Now, any Photo that you take on iPhone will be automatically uploaded to My Photo Stream and it can be viewed on your other devices.
Disadvantages of Photo Stream
By default, Photo Stream downloads a compressed version of Photos from all iCloud enabled devices to iPhone. This results in Photos from other devices flooding the Photos App on your iPhone.
Although, the downloaded Photos are optimized for storage, having a copy of Photos from other devices on iPhone can lead to lack of storage space on your device.
2. Disable Photo Stream on iPhone or iPad
If your iPhone has a low storage capacity, you may want to disable Photo Stream to prevent your iPhone from being flooded with Photos from other devices.
1. Go to Settings > Photos > move the toggle next to My Photo Stream to OFF position.
2. On the Confirmation pop-up, tap on Delete to confirm.
Turning OFF Photo Stream will prevent Photos from other devices appearing on your device and also prevent iPhone Photos being uploaded to Photo Stream.