Having to move back to Dropbox

My experience is the same as yours. OneDrive was the most unreliable service of the four. Both on Mac and Windows.

I recommend that you consider using a method other than PhotoStream to sync photos among IOS and macOS devices. Photostream, when used in a particular way to transfer photo files among IOS and macOS devices in multiple steps, can corrupt the photo files.

A few months ago I posted my experience with corrupted image files due to PhotoStream (but not iCloud Photos, formerly known as iCloud Photo Library). See detailed explanation here: https://talk.macpowerusers.com/t/another-cautionary-tale-about-icloud-photos-photostream/14361?u=arthur

The problem I experienced with Photostream occurred in 2017. I do not know if the problem has been resolved since then. Even if it has, it is possible that some degree of image file compression might be applied under certain conditions - slow wi-fi connection, for example. You should always be aware of image file integrity, since it is a common practice to compress image files. A good example is sharing files via email - the Apple Mail app compresses image files by default. I would not trust Photostream to guarantee image file integrity.

Edited to add: iCloud Photos (formerly iCloud Photo Library) is a different issue. It is my understanding that iCloud Photos maintains the full-size image files in iCloud, even though compressed images might be stored in IOS or macOS devices. I do not know of anything PhotoStream by itself does to maintain file integrity.

Thanks for the advice. In my case PhotoStream has never corrupted any of my photos and I’ve been using it ever since it came out in I think 2011 until now 2020. I prefer it to iCloud Photos as all the copies are copied in their original unedited form to all my devices.

However, its sync can be off and on and sometimes the only way to get my latest photos onto a new device is to switch it off and on again in Photos preferences.

I’m also worried that Apple will probably cease to support PhotoStream soon as they want us all to use iCloud Photos. Then I’ll have to come up with a different way to get the photos from my iPhone into my Photos Library…

I also use Google Photos to backup all my photos and I make regular backups onto external discs. I periodically take one of these discs to a different location and put a sticker on it with the date it was made. Oh, and I even have another backup on Dropbox separate to these. And I burnt a whole lot of Blu-ray data discs.

I fully understand the pain of losing precious non-replaceable photos which is why I appreciate you giving the heads-up of your experience with PhotoStream. But in my case I’ve had no issues with it corrupting anything.