# iCloud Drive and iCloud Photos: How to Transfer Files In and Out

> Blober connects to iCloud Drive and iCloud Photos through Apple's own web login. Here is what the integration can do, how iCloud Photos upload works, how it compares to rclone, and the limits to know before you move a library.

## What Blober's iCloud Support Does

Apple publishes no API for a personal iCloud account, and there is no developer key you can request for your own Drive or Photos library. Blober signs in on Apple's own web page, captures the validated session, and presents the account as two roots.

| Root              | What it holds                                   | Read | Write |
| ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | ---- | ----- |
| **iCloud Drive**  | Your files and folders, with the tree preserved | ✅    | ✅     |
| **iCloud Photos** | One chronological timeline of photos and videos | ✅    | ✅     |

Apple lists whatever other people shared with you inside iCloud Drive, as ordinary items with a *shared* label. Blober checks what each share lets you do.

Two details matter before a transfer. iCloud Drive delete is a move to Trash, the file is recoverable for 30 days and its storage is not freed until then. Photos has no folders, so there is no album browsing. Renaming a photo works, because its name is a field on the record behind it. Moving between the two iCloud accounts works too, Blober copies the file across and deletes the original.

## How the Sign-In Works

You sign in on Apple's own page, never on a Blober form: click **Open iCloud Login**, enter your Apple ID, and complete two-factor authentication. When the login finishes, tick **Keep me signed in** before you submit it. The screen that follows asks you to trust the device: click **Trust**, so the session is long-lived. Wait for iCloud to finish loading, and Blober captures the validated session and closes the window. It never sees or stores your Apple ID password, and no app-specific password is needed. Advanced Data Protection is supported as long as **Access iCloud Data on the Web** is on; China (GCBD) accounts are not.

## Uploading Into iCloud Photos

Writing to the Photos library is the part other tools leave out. rclone's `iclouddrive` backend can read the library, but its docs are explicit: "iCloud Photos is read-only. Upload, delete, rename, and move operations are not supported."[\[1\]](https://rclone.org/iclouddrive/ "Source: rclone.org/iclouddrive/")

That makes Blober one of very few tools that can put new photos and videos into iCloud Photos, and the only one that does it from a desktop app rather than from Apple's own Photos.

What to expect when you upload:

* Images keep the capture date Blober sends, so an old library is not stamped with today's date.
* Videos use the creation date stored inside the file when it has one; Apple prefers the media's own metadata.
* Camera raw files such as `dng`, `cr2`, `arw`, `nef`, `orf` and `raf` are skipped because iCloud photos does not accept them
* A new item can take a few seconds to appear in the timeline.

## Moving Between iCloud and Other Providers

iCloud works as a source and a destination, so it can sit on either side of a transfer with any other provider Blober supports: AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, Backblaze B2, Wasabi, Cloudflare R2, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, pCloud, Proton Drive, and GoPro Cloud.

Some transfers that come up often:

* **GoPro Cloud to iCloud Drive.** Pull the camera library out of GoPro and into Drive as ordinary files. Drive files do not join the Photos library, so send them to the iCloud Photos root instead if you want them in the Photos app.
* **Google Photos to iCloud Photos.** Move a whole Google library into Apple's timeline, with capture dates intact.
* **Proton Drive to iCloud.** Both are encrypted in transit to their own servers, and Blober decrypts Proton on the way out.
* **iCloud to a NAS or a cheap bucket.** Keep an offline copy of Drive and Photos in one run.

rclone can do several of these too, and it is free. Three of its limits shape the choice. Setting up the iCloud remote needs your Apple ID password and a 2FA code, and the trust token it leaves in the config is renewed every 30 days[\[2\]](https://rclone.org/iclouddrive/ "Source: rclone.org/iclouddrive/"). Since March 31, 2025 rclone "can only download photos it uploaded," so a pre-existing Google Photos library needs the separate `gphotosdl` proxy, and its shared Google Photos client ID is being retired during 2026, which means creating your own Google Cloud app[\[3\]](https://rclone.org/googlephotos/ "Source: rclone.org/googlephotos/"). Its Proton Drive backend is described as Beta, is built on a third-party bridge, covers Proton Drive files only, and generates no thumbnails[\[4\]](https://rclone.org/protondrive/ "Source: rclone.org/protondrive/"). Blober covers both with no setup beyond the browser login.

rclone is a command line tool with config files and per-job flags: no desktop app, no saved workflows, no thumbnail generation. Blober stores each transfer as a workflow you can run again with one click. Our [Blober vs rclone](/kb/articles/blober-vs-rclone/) write-up goes through that in detail.

## The Limits Worth Knowing

* **No albums in Photos.** The library is one timeline, so there is nothing to browse by album or folder. A photo can move between the two libraries, and a rename works in place.
* **Drive delete is Trash.** Space frees after 30 days, not immediately, delete manually if you want to clear the memory immediately
* **Shared items are workable** Other people's folders appear in Drive and can be browsed, and an item inside one renames, moves, and deletes when the share allows it.
* **China (GCBD) accounts are not supported.**
* **Camera raw files are refused before upload to Photos.** iCloud Drive takes them as ordinary files, but the Photos library refuses `dng`, `cr2`, `arw`, `nef`, `orf` and `raf` with a skip message. Apple's own upload page refuses them too ("This item's file type is not supported"), so convert raw files to JPEG or HEIC first if they need to be in the library.
* **Sessions expire.** Signing back in is one click, and transfers resume where they left off.

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Does Blober need my Apple ID password?** No. You sign in on Apple's own page, and Blober stores only the validated session cookies.

**Can I upload to iCloud Photos with rclone?** No. rclone's own docs state the iCloud Photos service is read-only, and that upload, delete, rename, and move are not supported[\[5\]](https://rclone.org/iclouddrive/ "Source: rclone.org/iclouddrive/").

**Will my photos land in the Photos app or in Drive?** Whichever root you choose. The iCloud Photos root puts them in the Photos timeline. The iCloud Drive root keeps them as files that do not join the Photos library.

**Does Advanced Data Protection break this?** No, as long as Access iCloud Data on the Web is on in your Apple settings.

**What happens if a video will not upload?** Apple's transcoder refuses some media. Blober reports the item as skipped rather than retrying it on the fallback route, so the rest of the transfer keeps going.

## Related Guides

* [Blober vs rclone](/kb/articles/blober-vs-rclone/) - where a desktop app fits next to a command line tool
* [Transferring GoPro Footage to iCloud Drive on a Mac](/kb/articles/transferring-gopro-footage-to-icloud-drive/) - what to expect from the iCloud Drive folder itself
* [iCloud Drive and iCloud Photos Setup](/kb/docs/providers/icloud/) - the provider page

## Get Blober

Blober connects to iCloud Drive, iCloud Photos, GoPro Cloud, Proton Drive, and the rest of its provider list in one desktop app. One-time purchase, no subscription, no per-GB fees.

**[Download Blober at blober.io](https://blober.io)**