Choose automatic cloud upload if the immediate need is to save photos from family phones and reach them across devices. For photos you cannot afford to lose, keep a separate recoverable copy as well: deletions can spread through a synchronised library. An external drive suits a copying routine through a computer, while a home NAS suits households willing to maintain shared local storage and back up the NAS itself.
If photos are taken on several phones, check that each person’s device can upload to the intended account without a manual copying routine. Apple and Google both describe automatic options, but their account and sharing arrangements differ.
Keep a recoverable copy separate from the main library. The National Cyber Security Centre describes a backup as a copy stored in a separate safe location; Apple and Google both warn that deletions can affect photos across connected devices.
An external drive can fit a computer-based copying routine. A home NAS can receive phone uploads through compatible software, but someone must manage the storage and maintain another copy outside the NAS.
Start with how photos will leave each phone, then check whether the resulting copy can survive a deletion or a problem at its storage location.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Recoverable copy | Identify where a separate copy lives and how you would restore it. The National Cyber Security Centre advises keeping important data in a separate safe location; Apple and Google say deletions can spread across their connected photo libraries. | I want to recover family photos even if a phone is lost or someone deletes a photo from a synced library. |
| Automatic uploads | Check the app on every phone, the account receiving uploads and its settings. Google Photos describes automatic upload to a Google Account; Synology describes mobile backup to a compatible NAS. | Photos taken on different family phones need a routine we can keep up without connecting each phone to a computer. |
| Family access | Separate shared storage capacity from permission to view an album. Apple says iCloud+ storage can be shared with up to five other family members; Google says family storage sharing does not itself expose members’ files. | I want relatives to see selected photos without making everyone’s private library visible. |
| Growing library | Compare the current photo and video library with the available capacity, allowing for future files. Check whether other account data uses the same cloud allowance and whether you can export files for a local copy. | Our videos are adding to the library, and I need room for new files as well as the existing collection. |
| Local workflow | Check phone and computer ports, connectors, file format and copying steps. Apple says an external Mac Photos library needs a device formatted as APFS or Mac OS Extended; iPhone access to external storage uses Files or supported apps. | I would rather keep a drive-based copy, but it must work with the devices we actually use. |
| NAS upkeep | Confirm the phone-upload software, household account setup and a second backup destination. Synology describes Android and iOS uploads to a NAS; a NAS kept at home remains one storage location. | We want a shared local destination and can take responsibility for maintaining it and another copy. |
Apple says deleting a photo in iCloud Photos deletes it wherever iCloud Photos is used. Google also says deletion of backed-up items can affect connected devices with backup turned on.
Keep an independent copy in a separate safe location, and check that you can open a sample of files from it.
A drive that connects to a phone does not, by that fact alone, provide automatic photo backup. The intended computer and photo-library format also matter.
List the phones, computer, ports and required connectors, then decide how often photos will be copied. For an external Mac Photos library, check Apple’s APFS or Mac OS Extended format requirement.
Samsung says reaching the maximum quoted speeds for its T7 Shield requires a compatible host and connection cable supporting USB 3.2 Gen 2.
Check the ports and cables in the intended transfer setup, then compare capacity against the library you need to copy.
A NAS can receive phone photos automatically through compatible software, but it remains a storage location in the home. The National Cyber Security Centre advises keeping a backup in a separate safe location.
Arrange another recoverable copy apart from the NAS, and make checking that copy part of the household routine.
iCloud Photos is an automatic-upload route to consider for a household using Apple devices.
Google Photos offers automatic upload to a Google Account; Google One provides a separate family storage-sharing arrangement.
Synology Photos is a phone-upload option for households considering a Synology NAS as local storage.
Samsung’s portable SSD range is relevant when the plan is to carry a local copy or transfer a photo library using a compatible device.
Seagate portable hard drives are another type of storage to consider for a computer-based local copy.
These drives and phone-connected storage options relate to making a local copy of family photos. Choose a copying workflow and a separate safe place for that copy; a storage device alone does not establish either.
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A portable SSD to consider for a separate local photo copy. Its listed connection is USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 (3.1 Gen 2); check how photos will move from your phone or computer to the drive.
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This portable SSD is another option for a local copy. It lists USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 (3.1 Gen 2); compare its 2 TB capacity with your library and confirm the copying workflow for your devices.
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A phone-connected storage option for a local copying routine. Check the exact phone, any required app and the transfer and restore steps before relying on its 128GB capacity for family photos.
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A 5TB external hard drive to consider for a local copy made through a computer. Confirm the computer’s file-system requirements and how phone photos will reach it before setting a copying schedule.
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A portable 2TB SSD for a planned local-copy routine. Check its connection, file-system compatibility and transfer steps against the phone and computer you intend to use.
Not as the only copy if you need protection from deletion across a synced library. Apple says deleting a photo on one device deletes it wherever you use iCloud Photos. Keep another recoverable copy in a separate safe location.
Yes, sharing storage need not mean sharing personal files. Apple says an iCloud+ subscription can be shared with up to five other family members; Google says members of a family storage plan cannot access one another’s files without permission. Choose album or library-sharing permissions separately.
Do not assume that it will. Apple says iPhone can access supported external storage through Files and supported apps, which establishes file access rather than an automatic photo-backup routine. Check the intended app or computer-import steps and test that you can open the copied files.
Yes. Google Photos explains how to download photos and videos to a device; download the files to a computer, then copy them to the external drive and check the copy.
Apple Support specifies APFS or Mac OS Extended for an external device holding a Mac Photos library. Check the format before moving the library, and plan a separate backup of the photos as well.