How to upload photos from iPhone to iCloud Storage without being "managed" by sync?

Question

I'm not sure why I can't seem to find a simple answer to this question online, but here's what I'm trying to accomplish. I have 9.5GB of photos and videos on my iPhone that I want to back up to cloud storage. I am interested in using iCloud Storage for the simple fact that I am already paying for extra storage for my iPhone backup. But none of the options available (iCloud Photo Library, Photo Stream, iCloud Photo Sharing) fit what I want to do.

All I want to do is upload image files as backup files to iCloud Storage. I don't care if they are synced with my Apple devices or not, though I do not want edits/deletions on those devices to remove that same file from iCloud. So basically, no sync, no restrictions on number of files, just a plain upload for backup purposes.

Is there a way to accomplish this kind of iPhone-to-iCloud Storage photo transfer? If not, what are other safe, reliable options?

Thanks for your help and suggestions, and hopefully making some sense out of something that should be pretty straightforward IMO.

Answer 1

Solution 1: Manual Uploading/Tracking to Files.app

If you want to stick to iCloud Drive and achieve the this, you'll need to manually upload your photos to iCloud using Photos -> Select -> (Select Photos) -> Share -> Save to Files

In this method you'll have to manually keep track of the photos you've uploaded and the new ones that haven't been uploaded yet.

Solution 2: Google Photos for iOS

Google photos app for iOS brings the same

Free Photo and Video Storage

feature for iOS, which were initially advertised with the Google Pixel.

Note: Google Photos will automatically reduce your photo quality if you use the free plan.

In this method, the app handles the sync history and keeps track of the backup metadata for you, so you won't have to worry about uploading new photos manually.

App Store: Google Photos