10 Tips to Organize Your Camera Roll

Guest blog by Kacey Mya, the blogger behind The Drifter Collective

Ah, the dreaded “iPhone storage almost full” message popped up again — preventing you from taking new photographs to your heart’s content. Who likes seeing that alert pop up on their phone? Sure, external storage exists, but what if you prefer to keep certain fav pics for important tasks like sharing the fifth item in your roll to a social media post about kitty cats?

If you’re like me, most of the your phone’s storage consists of pictures. How can you keep your camera roll organized to allow you ample space for photographing new adventures without having to pause to pull out a USB device? By using backup apps, uploading photos to devices with larger storage spaces and printing out your favorites, you can preserve precious phone space while still snapping selfies a mile a minute.

1. Delete Lousy Shots Immediately

Anyone who has ever tried to snap a pic of Fluffy doing something adorable knows they have to click at least 20 times to get one decent photo. Before you know it, your phone storage dwindles megabyte by megabyte.

When taking pictures, delete the ones of your wayward thumb immediately, and do the same with the ones where Fido turned his head at the last second, transforming into a demonic-looking blur. You may have to wait till you get out of the sun to delete pics if you’re shooting outdoor panoramas but do so once you return to your vehicle.

2. Adjust Your Settings

On most cellular devices, deleting an app from the home screen frees up no space at all because the app remains running in the background. Both iPhones and Android models have certain pre-installed apps you cannot delete, but you can disable those you no longer use to gather some extra storage space.

• iPhone: Tap the Settings icon. Scroll down to General and go to iPhone and Cloud Storage. A list of apps will appear — click on each one, hit “Offload App,” and then delete it to uninstall entirely.
• Android: Go to the apps screen, tap the Uninstall Updates button and hit “Disable” next to apps you no longer use.

3. Upload to the Cloud

If your phone isn’t set to automatically back up to the Cloud, adjust it to do so. You can upload to Apple’s Cloud or Google Drive on Android devices. Secure file sharing apps allow you to share photos and other important documents without fear of hackers’ prying eyes spying them.

4. Utilize Space Storing Backup Devices

Various backup devices ranging anywhere from $50 to $200 exist for Android and iPhones online and in stores. These keep your photos secure while freeing up space on your device itself.

5. Create Albums Right Away

Arranging your pictures into albums an help you find the ones you use most often easily. You can create these on your phone using Google Photos, or you can tether your device to your computer to create an album there.

6. Make Montages of Shots

One photo montage uses less storage space than five separate photos. Download a free photo collage app and begin virtual “scrapbooking” to save on space. Once you combine the pics, delete the originals.

7. Let Social Media Act as Storage

Even if you don’t wish to share all your photos, you can nevertheless upload them to social media without making them public. Set Facebook settings for uploads to “Only Me” by default and change only those pictures you want to share later. You also can set your Instagram account to private.

8. Schedule Regular Maintenance

Performing regular device maintenance is a smart decision, regardless of the amount of storage space on your phone. After all, keeping devices up to date helps keep all of your information — not only your photos — secure. Considering the vast amount of information, we store on our phones (like banking passwords, credit card info, etc.), getting into a routine of updating all equipment — phones, computers, video consoles and home automation systems — on a weekly or bi-weekly basis makes solid sense.

9. Keep Only Favs on Devices

I don’t know about you, but I’m a total sucker for replying with an adorable pic of my kitties when a friend on social media asks people to share the third or fifth photo in their roll (of course I have the cutest pets in the world, and so do you!). It’s tempting to delete all your pictures once they’re uploaded but do keep some on your phone for fun and for sharing during long rides on the bus or subway.

10. Invest in a Photo Printer

A high-quality printer can turn your favorite pictures into art worthy of hanging on your walls. Invest in a photo printer, and you’ll never worry about losing a beloved pic again. No printer? Most office supply stores will print high-quality photos for you for a small fee.

Turning Photos into Art While Saving Phone Space

Our phones ensure we have a camera with us everywhere we go, and most of us adore this feature. However, snapping away every time we head out with friends means burning through our storage space quickly. Never fear — by following the above tips, you can free up space and keep your treasured memories at your fingertips.

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