Photos in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS combined with iCloud Photos is a great way to sync, and to create a kind of backup of all your photos from the moment after you capture or import them that they’re uploaded to your central iCloud storage. (Why a “kind” of backup? See later in the article.)
But what do you do if you want to use iCloud Photos selectively? You want some, but not all of the benefits.
In iOS and iPadOS, you don’t have a choice. If you have iCloud Photos enabled, every picture in Photos on your iPhone or iPad will upload to iCloud and every image there downloads (at least a thumbnail) to your device.
IDG
You can change a Photos pref to only reference, not import images.
