# iCloud Photos

19 Hacker News commenters recommended iCloud Photos and 45 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for seamless photo backup and syncing across Apple devices. Common caveat: syncing feels unreliable and getting originals out in bulk is hard.

## Why people recommend it

- Bulk download of entire library (3 comments): "I can personally confirm I've downloaded an entire iCloud library at once, to a brand new Mac" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46582375)) "was able to gather all the pictures I had going back 20 years in under 30 seconds" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48851574)) "you can just enable iCloud to store photos locally, then export them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49739933))
- Easy enough for relatives (3 comments): "my 90yr old grandmother can use WhatsApp and iCloud Photos" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48949778)) "far from perfect but is a huge boon for everyone" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46504827)) "I like them better than alternatives." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46506707))
- Seamless automatic photo backup (2 comments): "i keep thousands of photos from my camera on icloud and it works fine" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50112384)) "The photo backup is so seamless." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49634382))
- Peace of mind against loss (2 comments): "Peace of mind in case my house burns down" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47529311)) "You pay Apple to deal with it (which I do) and get to live a peaceful life" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48266923))

## What people warn about

- Sync is unreliable and opaque (3 comments): "It would dramatically improve the feel of the software if it didn't seem like it just inexplicably wasn't working half the time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46595910)) "iCloud syncs only happen when the device decides the mood is just right, and can't be triggered manually" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48113233)) "The synchronization is opaque - more than once I checked for photos and they weren't uploaded yet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48117661))
- Bulk download is difficult (3 comments): "AFAIK Apple makes it very difficult to get all your icloud photos bulk downloaded" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49738515)) "You need an extra tool to download your own photos? That's... not a basic feature?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46579833)) "old photos are not downloaded automatically from iCloud, and there is no button to start this process" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46581291))
- Pushes uploads and lock-in (3 comments): "Apple doesn't want you to leave and making something as important as your photos difficult to move helps with that." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46579284)) "users who buy base models are almost certainly forced to make use of iCloud Photo Library" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47968954)) "that should be opt-in—not a requirement to upload my entire photo library to Apple" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50111703))
- Bugs remove or restore photos (2 comments): "Apple had a regression where they were un-deleting people's photos, that's pretty nasty" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45886682)) "iOS had "helpfully" removed the original photos from the local device to "save space"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47715407))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Ente Photos](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ente.md): 56 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.apple.com/icloud/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "iCloud Photos", https://hackerapproved.com/p/icloud-photos/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).