Any limitations on number of installs for the Lightroom cloud app?

[PhilBurton]

Lightroom Version Number

Lightroom 8.3

Operating System

1. Windows 10
2. iOS

Are there any limitations on how I can install the Lightroom cloud app? Am I restricted to just two installs. Can one of those installs be on my wife's phone? She is a much more prolific iPhone photographer than I am. Can I install the cloud app on four total devices, including our iPads, so two of those installs would be on my wife's systems? Does it matter that the iPads are Wi-Fi only?

I have a current subscription and use Lightroom 8.3 installed on a desktop and a laptop system. Jim's post What Am I Missing?? has me wondering if I should install the Lightroom cloud app on all the iDevices in my house, for the single purpose of quickly and conveniently transferring photos into my desktop Lightroom.

To be clear, I have deliberately avoided all discussions around the cloud app because the limitations of the cloud app and because of the reports of poor integration between the desktop and the cloud app.

Phil Burton

 

[Zenon]

I'm going to follow this one.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

There's no limits on mobile devices, just 2 desktops.

 

[clee01l]

Here's how I think it works. Others such as Jim Wilde may correct this if I guess wrong
Mobile devices: Unlimited number of installs. So, yes, you can install on your phone, your iPad, your wife's phone and your children phone(s). For each device you need to log into the cloud using your Adobe Subscription credentials
PCs/Macs: two installs but you only can have one catalog file active with CC. Which is the same as with Lightroom Classic

 

[Paul McFarlane]

PCs/Macs: two installs but you only can have one catalog file active with CC. Which is the same as with Lightroom Classic

All correct except on Lightroom (was CC, now just Lightroom or the Cloud version as we're discussing here) there is no catalog, it's all photos that have been uploaded to the cloud

 

[clee01l]

All correct except on Lightroom (was CC, now just Lightroom or the Cloud version as we're discussing here) there is no catalog, it's all photos that have been uploaded to the cloud

So, what is this folder package that I have on my Mac called "Lightroom Library.lrlibrary"? Do you mean that I can store my Cloud image files locally on both Computers that have Lightroom 2.3 installed?

 

[Paul McFarlane]

So, what is this folder package that I have on my Mac called "Lightroom Library.lrlibrary"? Do you mean that I can store my Cloud image files locally on both Computers that have Lightroom 2.3 installed?

Local cache for the images held in the cloud, so LR doesn't rely on downloading every time to view or edit using the Desktop App. Mobile also has cache.

You can additionally store photos locally, just check:
Store a copy of all originals at the specified location checkbox in Preferences > Local Storage.

 

[clee01l]

You can additionally store photos locally, just check:
Store a copy of all originals at the specified location checkbox in Preferences > Local Storage.

On both computer installs?

 

[Paul McFarlane]

On both computer installs?

Correct. Some people like to tick this on their main computer just so they have an additional (local) backup, especially a good idea prior to the current release when there was no way to undelete.

 

[PhilBurton]

Correct. Some people like to tick this on their main computer just so they have an additional (local) backup, especially a good idea prior to the current release when there was no way to undelete.

Paul,

So if for my very limited purpose of transferring photos from an iPhone/iPad to Lightroom desktop, can I safely delete the photos in the cloud once the photos are in the desktop's catalog and stored on a local file system?

Phil

 

[PhilBurton]

Here's how I think it works. Others such as Jim Wilde may correct this if I guess wrong
Mobile devices: Unlimited number of installs. So, yes, you can install on your phone, your iPad, your wife's phone and your children phone(s). For each device you need to log into the cloud using your Adobe Subscription credentials
PCs/Macs: two installs but you only can have one catalog file active with CC. Which is the same as with Lightroom Classic

Thanks for this info. Kids are off the payroll.

Phil Burton

 

[Paul McFarlane]

So if for my very limited purpose of transferring photos from an iPhone/iPad to Lightroom desktop, can I safely delete the photos in the cloud once the photos are in the desktop's catalog and stored on a local file system?

If you mean Desktop as in Classic (so sync'd through a Collection locally) then yes. If by Desktop you mean Lightroom CC (as was) - cloud - then no, because you won't be able to access the photos in the Cloud App (even locally) as it relies on the cloud as the storage.

 

[PhilBurton]

If you mean Desktop as in Classic (so sync'd through a Collection locally) then yes. If by Desktop you mean Lightroom CC (as was) - cloud - then no, because you won't be able to access the photos in the Cloud App (even locally) as it relies on the cloud as the storage.

Paul,
Thanks. I have no desire (right now) to use the cloud-based app when I am doing Lightroom Classic (only) on my desktop or laptop.

 

[Kevin Sholder]

To follow on with another question, or if I need to start another thread, I'll be happy to. I also use Lightroom Classic. I've installed the Lightroom mobile app on my phone so I could shoot DNG files instead of JPG or TIF. Found out my phone only supports JPG (too old), no biggie. As I still would like to be able to sync from my phone to a folder in Lightroom Classic using Lightroom's Synced Images.

Is this possible, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

How would I set this up if it is possible?

I do have the latest editions of Victoria's books, so if the information is in there, perhaps point me to where and I'll go from there.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[Victoria Bampton]

You've got it Kevin, that preference sets the location for any photos downloaded from the cloud, rather than tucking them away in a special MobileDownloads.lrdata. (The Cloud Sync chapter in your Classic book discusses the Classic end of things, if you want to do a bit more reading around it.)

 

[Paul McFarlane]

Just to add, once set (the folder for the mobile downloads) and once the photos from mobile have arrived in Classic, if you don't want to be able to view them on mobile devices (going back to Phil's comments) then you can delete them from All Synced Photographs - Classic won't delete the local ones in the folder you specified. This helps keep within the 20Gb limit.

 

[Jim Wilde]

All correct except on Lightroom (was CC, now just Lightroom or the Cloud version as we're discussing here) there is no catalog, it's all photos that have been uploaded to the cloud

At the risk of being a touch pedantic, there actually IS a local catalog inside the Local Library package, it's called "Managed Catalog.mcat". It's a subset of the master catalog that resides in the cloud, and allows the user to continue to work locally when not online or sync is paused.

One of the benefits of the cloud ecosystem is in recovery situations, e.g. local system/drive crashes, switch to new system/drive, install CC App and Lightroom, start the app and complete recovery is effected automatically from the master catalog. Gone are the days of trying to recover catalogs from non-existent backups!

 

[Paul McFarlane]

Jim, you are of course totally correct. The context seemed to be using different catalogs, which I related to the Classic system, whereas of course the could doesn't use the same concept.

 

[Kevin Sholder]

You've got it Kevin, that preference sets the location for any photos downloaded from the cloud, rather than tucking them away in a special MobileDownloads.lrdata. (The Cloud Sync chapter in your Classic book discusses the Classic end of things, if you want to do a bit more reading around it.)

Thanks, after reading a bit more I got what was needed and all is working as expected.

Kevin