I suspect a lot of Apple users who take a photos are going to start using (and likely paying for) Apple’s new iCloud Photo Library service so that any and all photos they take show up on and sync across every Apple device they own.

However, there is a somewhat hidden factor that greatly impacted the effectiveness of this cloud storage service. To use it, you really must be connected to the internet via high speed WiFi, Ethernet or a big Cellular Data plan. Without this connection, the ability to view & share photos from your iPhone or iPad are either impossible or impractical.

For example, I was traveling in Japan the last few weeks. Nice trip and I took a LOT of photos. I uploaded my photos every day via Wifi to my iCloud Photo Library (about 200 shots/day). That part worked fine. It’s a great way to backup the photos stored on the SD card in my camera.

However, since I was not willing to pay Verizion’s prohibitive international data plan fees, I was unable to view or share any of my 20,000+ photos with the folks who were traveling with us. I could see the tiny thumbnail version on my iPhone / iPad, but when you click on one, it is a very fuzzy picture. I also found that trying to view/share photos while on WiFi was frustratingly impractical — it took 2-3 minutes to download each and every photo.

This requirement to be on a high speed data service is not mentioned at all on Apple’s website for the “Photos” app. I thought I’d mention this issue to you because most articles and books coming out on Photos also do not discuss this issue. I’ve talked to a senior adviser at Apple about it and he acknowledged the issue. I have not found any solution yet.

Possibly that would open the class to having contact outside their regular routine, and into a world beyond their normal activities.

Bert