Tech Experts Say You Need To Change This iPhoto Setting NOW — It’s Freeing Up So Much Data!

Unless you’re a professional photographer experimenting with different lenses and different lighting scenarios and techniques, is there even a need to own an extra camera considering how beautifully your iPhone takes photos and videos? Many of us rely solely on our phones to capture the moment – and then we can instantly share those moments and broadcast them to the world through social media channels. But in doing so we could limit our phone’s ability to function as well as possible and burden it with great battery power. The solution isn’t to stop using our phones to take pictures, but to become familiar with certain iPhoto settings that can be changed to combat this problem. Start with this one: Tech pros say you need to change this iPhoto setting now — there’s so much data to share.

High quality

It’s nice to have quality photos, don’t get us wrong. But is it always necessary? Probably not (especially if you’re taking something like a quick photo of your dog playing in the snow to share with a friend). As it turns out, the High Quality feature in iPhoto is responsible for clawing up a ton more storage space than you might think.

“When you import photos into iPhoto, the software sets all your photos to ‘high quality’ by default,” says Tech Expert Morshad Alam, Founder and Editor at Savvy Programmer. “This setting results in large photo files that take up more disk space on your computer. To save space, you can change this setting to import your photos at a lower quality.”

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KeyUA tech expert Daria Maltseva agrees: “Your photos and videos are stored on your device in their original, high-resolution version,” says Maltseva. “This suggests they’re taking up a lot of space on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. With iCloud Photos, you can free up more space on your device and take your entire collection with you wherever you go. If you want to view full resolution images on iOS device, Download and Keep Originals is healthier for you. If you want to free up storage space for iOS devices, optimizing iPhone storage is healthier for you.”

To change the setting so photos aren’t automatically high-res, Alam says you can open iPhoto and go to settings (iPad: iPhoto > Settings, iPhone: Settings > Photos & Camera). Under “Import,” check the box next to “Use lower quality for imported photos.” Click the Settings button and choose a lower quality setting from the drop-down menu. Click OK, then click Save in the Settings window.