How delivery works (upload once, fan out)

Why you only upload each photo once, and how it reaches every destination.

By the CloudTether team · Updated

When a photo is captured, your phone uploads it to CloudTether one time. We then deliver ("fan out") that single file to every destination configured on the session — so two destinations don't mean two uploads from your phone.

This saves mobile data and battery, and keeps delivery fast even on multiple destinations.

Retention

We hold your original files only as long as needed to deliver them to your destinations, then remove them. Your photos live in your destinations (your Dropbox, your gallery, your archive) — CloudTether is the pipe, not the permanent home.

Delivery status

Each photo shows its status per destination, so you can see exactly what's delivered, in progress, or needs attention.

CloudTether shot details: On phone, Sent and Delivered steps with times, delivered to Dropbox and Google Drive
Every shot shows its own On phone → Sent → Delivered status.

Connect Dropbox, Google Drive or another service

Add a destination once, then every shoot can deliver to it automatically.

Not sure which you have? 1.1 has the tabs Home · History · Deliver · More; 1.0 has Home · Playback · Destinations · More. What changed in 1.1

  1. CloudTether 1.1 Deliver tab listing connected Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, OneDrive and Amazon S3, with more services to add, Saved destinations and Copies on this phone

    1Open the Deliver tab

    Tap “Deliver” in the tab bar. Your connected services are listed under “Deliver to”; tap one under “Add more” (Dropbox, Google Drive, Google Photos, SmugMug, ShootProof, Frame.io, FTP, WebDAV, Slack…) or the + button, then sign in and approve access.

  2. CloudTether 1.1 What gets sent screen for Dropbox with Rated picks for clients selected and Fine-tune open: JPEGs only, 2048 px, file name and Rated shots only switched on

    2Set what gets sent

    Tap a connected service, then “What gets sent”. Pick “Everything (default)”, “JPEGs for clients” (JPEGs at 2048 px, named after the shoot), “Small previews” (JPEGs at 1080 px), “Rated picks for clients” (only shots you rated in camera) or “Custom”, and use “Fine-tune” for which files, size, look, file name and “Rated shots only (★ or more)”. If the screen notes that shoots sent from the cloud use the shoot's own settings, set size and look in that shoot's settings instead.

  3. CloudTether 1.1 Shoot settings, Transfer from camera: Only shots I rate in camera switched on at three stars or more, and Also send videos switched on

    3Send only your picks (optional)

    To send only the shots you rate on the camera, open the shoot's settings › “Transfer from camera” and turn on “Only shots I rate in camera”, then pick the minimum — “At least ★3”, say. “Also send videos” copies clips you record while connected; they're large, so USB is fastest.

  4. CloudTether 1.1 Connect FTP / SFTP form with SFTP selected, host photos.example.com, folder /clients/2026 and New subfolder for each shoot switched on

    4FTP or SFTP server (optional)

    Tap “FTP” under “Add more”, pick FTP, FTPS or SFTP and fill in the host, port, username, password and folder. “New subfolder for each shoot” (on by default) puts each shoot in its own folder inside the one you chose. Tap “Test connection”, then “Test & save”.

  5. 5Send a camera's shots there

    When a camera connects, choose the service in “Send shots to…” › “Choose other services or folders”, or start a shoot from a saved set. By default a folder named after the shoot is created on the first delivery.

  6. 6Copies on the phone (optional)

    To also keep copies in Photos, Files or on a USB drive, open Deliver › “Copies on this phone”.