Apple is ending its My Photo Stream service on July 26th

Apple has officially announced the discontinuation of My Photo Stream, an in-house feature that allows free synchronization of up to 1,000 images taken within the last 30 days across Apple devices.

In an update on its support page, Apple, led by Tim Cook, emphasized that going forward, iCloud Photos would be the preferred method for keeping users’ photos and videos consistently updated across all their devices while ensuring secure storage in iCloud.

As per the announcement made by the tech giant, beginning June 26, users will no longer have the ability to upload new pictures to My Photo Stream, and the service itself will be discontinued on July 26. Photos that were uploaded to the service prior to June 26 will remain stored in iCloud for a duration of 30 days from the date of upload. Users will still be able to access these photos on any device where My Photo Stream is currently enabled. However, after July 26, the service will no longer retain any photos, and users will not have access to them through My Photo Stream.

To utilize this functionality, it can be accessed on any iPhone running iOS 8.3 or later, iPad running iOS 8.3 or later, or Mac running OS X Yosemite or later. For instructions on how to enable this feature, please click here.

Introduced in 2011, My Photo Stream enables users to access their images taken within the last 30 days across multiple Apple devices. Any photos captured on an iPhone during this period will be automatically shared with an iPad or MacBook before eventually being removed. It’s important to note that the original photo will still be retained on the iPhone even after the expiration of the 30-day timeframe.

In 2014, Apple introduced iCloud Photos, which The Sun described as being “slightly superior” to My Photo Stream. Unlike My Photo Stream, iCloud Photos allows users to upload videos, offers higher image quality, and ensures permanent storage of both photos and videos. While Apple has not provided a specific reason for the discontinuation of My Photo Stream, the availability of iCloud Photos with its enhanced features could be a contributing factor.