iCloud Photos Downloader

#1

Post by reconnecting » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 7:23 PM UTC

Re: iCloud Photos Downloader

#2

Post by reconnecting » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 7:25 PM UTC

Surprisingly, there is no official way to download all (400 Gb) photos from iCloud. Here is an open-source command-line tool to download all your iCloud photos.

Re: iCloud Photos Downloader

#3

Post by cdrnsf » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 7:53 PM UTC

reconnecting wrote: post #2

Surprisingly, there is no official way to download all (400 Gb) photos from iCloud. Here is an open-source command-line tool to download all your iCloud photos.

I'm not sure it's surprising. Apple doesn't want you to leave and making something as important as your photos difficult to move helps with that.

Re: iCloud Photos Downloader

#4

Post by nashashmi » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 7:53 PM UTC

Vulnerability hijack incoming with the headline calling for another maintainer

Re: iCloud Photos Downloader

#5

Post by tra3 » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 7:53 PM UTC

Does anyone know if there’s a way to self host/impersonate iCloud? I’d like to back my iPhone up locally.

Re: iCloud Photos Downloader

#6

Post by kccqzy » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 7:56 PM UTC

reconnecting wrote: post #2

Surprisingly, there is no official way to download all (400 Gb) photos from iCloud. Here is an open-source command-line tool to download all your iCloud photos.

That’s not true. On any Mac or iPhone you can choose the iCloud Photo Library storage option to download all instead of letting the system optimize the storage. And if you turn off iCloud Photo Library, it will also try to download it all. I know this because I stopped using iCloud Photo Library and that was how I got all my photos downloaded.

Re: iCloud Photos Downloader

#7

Post by yrcyrc » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 7:58 PM UTC

tra3 wrote: post #5

Does anyone know if there’s a way to self host/impersonate iCloud? I’d like to back my iPhone up locally.

For pictures you can use https://immich.app/

Re: iCloud Photos Downloader

#8

Post by idorosen » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 7:59 PM UTC

tra3 wrote: post #5

Does anyone know if there’s a way to self host/impersonate iCloud? I’d like to back my iPhone up locally.

https://github.com/libimobiledevice/ifuse might help.

Re: iCloud Photos Downloader

#9

Post by nntwozz » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 8:01 PM UTC

tra3 wrote: post #5

Does anyone know if there’s a way to self host/impersonate iCloud? I’d like to back my iPhone up locally.

You can do manual backups in macOS using Finder, or iTunes on Windows.

Re: iCloud Photos Downloader

#10

Post by dwayne_dibley » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 8:04 PM UTC

tra3 wrote: post #5

Does anyone know if there’s a way to self host/impersonate iCloud? I’d like to back my iPhone up locally.

Immich is probably the best option