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DeanCorp

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 13, 2007
336
136
Hi all,

I have over 9,000 images accumulated from since I got my first ever iPhone (iPhone 1). I think it's time to clear them all off my phone and onto my computer.

However I know when you try and sync them again from iPhoto or a folder the camera roll metadata is all screwed up and the order is not the same. Is there anyway I can safely backup my camera roll and in the future if I decide I want them all back on my phone I can? I know it has something to do with the database files found in Media (I had to repair my database once after a beta version caused a lot of my photos to show blank squares, I needed to delete an sql file using iExplorer).

In summary basically I would like to remove all photos from camera roll however have the ability at a later stage to restore them exactly as they are now (so moments show the correct order etc). Syncing them as albums does not show the correct order in Camera Roll/Moments (as some images are edited and the metadata has changed so it shows the modified metadata as the moment).

Apologies about the lengthy post but these photos mean a lot to me and would rather be safe than sorry!

Thanks in advance.
 
Have you tried syncing all the photos to iPhoto? After the sync is completed you are presented with a dialog box asking if you would like to remove all the photos from the device. Also, just to be safe you can backup your phone on iTunes.
 
Wow thanks Richard. So if you ever decided to restore back you'd have all your photos back in camera roll with the correct order/date.

DavidBlack - Yes I have tried that and for some reason in Albums the metadata is correct but in moments it seems to be all messed up as it uses the date modified not the date created. I've confirmed this with Apple and they suggested I complete a bug report which I did 2 months ago and I got no where..
 
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