Amazon updates Cloud Drive Photos with AirPlay, photo/video metadata, cache settings and more

amazon cloud drive

The online retail giant Amazon on Tuesday refreshed its Cloud Drive Photos application for the iPhone and iPad with some much-needed new features.

Used to synchronize and protect your photos and personal videos on your iOS device with Amazon’s cloud-based storage dubbed Cloud Drive, the free application now supports AirPlay, a media-streaming technology from Apple, so you can stream your photos and videos wirelessly to the big screen TV through the Apple TV box.

Also, you can finally rename albums and easily change an album’s cover photo by swiping left/right on the album artwork. Most importantly, the app finally applies proper metadata to your photos and videos, including date taken, resolution, image type and file name.

Here’s the complete list of changes in version 3.2:

  • Photo and video metadata: View date taken, resolution, image type and file name.
  • Album rename: Change an album name by long pressing the album you want to change (iPhone only)
  • AirPlay support: Use AirPlay to stream your photos and videos wirelessly to Apple TV
  • Album cover swipe: Change your album cover photo by swiping left or right on the album (iPhone only)
  • Manage cache: Customize your application cache settings

I’m liking the new cache options.

Matter of fact, I tend to believe that cache management should be enforced across all third-party iOS apps, no exceptions. Software that caches content locally tends to eat up your device’s storage, posing an insurmountable problem for technically illiterate folks who mostly don’t have a clue why their iPhone has suddenly ran out of storage space.

A good example is the otherwise excellent Dropbox for iOS app which allocates disproportionally large chunks of storage when you mark even the tiniest of files for offline access.

Amazon Cloud Drive Photos (paid plans 001)

Cloud Drive Photos is free to use and includes 5 gigs of free storage, with paid tiers available in 100/200/500/1,000GB increments costing $50/$100/$250/$500 per year.

[App Store]