Anyone use a Pixel, but use Mac Photos app and iCloud, help needed please

[MrMister111]

how do you export from Google Photos (took on a Pixel) to Mac Photos app, keeping all metadata, date, time, location, phone used etc

I have a P10PXL, photos and video taken go to Google photos. However I use a Mac and have all my photos and video in that app using iCloud.

What is best way to export from Google photos to Mac photos? keeping the info?

I've just opened Google Photos on safari, clicked a few pics, downloaded, then imported to Mac photos and the date is today when I downloaded it, not what I want.

Is there no Mac google photos app either?

 

[MrMister111]

tested it with a digital camera, and another camera and they import correctly, showing date taken not the imported date. So how come Pixel doesn't, is this being detected as a Pixel and being "awkward"....

Any way around this to help appreciated

 

[Ben J.]

Just a thought; you could try to drag the photos from the Google Photos window in Safari directly into the photos app. And if you have the mac Photos prefs set to import the files to your photos folder, this would let photos app manage the import instead of involving Finder. Might be worth a try.

 

[jb310]

Here's what I do (on a Samsung phone, but it should work for you too)

1. Upload the photos from your phone to Google Drive
2. Open Google Drive in Safari on your Mac and download the photos (should come in a zip file)
3. Open MacOS photos and import the photos

If you open the Photos Library, the photos should be arranged by the date they were taken

 

[boswald]

Go to the Google Takeout website, uncheck everything except Photos, then wait for it to process. When it's done you should get 1 or multiple .zip files. Unpack those somewhere, then open iCloud on the web and import them en masse.

Or you could simply allow Google to have access to your Apple ID to upload directly, but that could be a big privacy no-no.

 

[nmt1900]

I have been one of these "Mac + Android" people for 16 years. In 2010 it was quite easy to choose between iOS and Android because of how limited iPhone "as a tool" was compared to Android.

Now 16 years and many Android phones later I am preparing myself to the inevitable - getting rid of Galay Ultra model and getting first iPhone. I would suggest the same to others as well. First step towards this decision came up years ago when Google disabled Photos sync to Google Drive client thus leaving web browser as only way to access Google Photos library with a computer. Many other stupid decisions made by Google destroy usability of all Android devices (most prominent issue being supported VPN protocols on Android vs iOS and macOS).

P. S. When Google decided that it wants to be a phone manufacturer and started to produce Pixel phones they lost people who were buying into their significantly more affordable Nexus devices. That pushed me away from then into Samsung world. Top-of-a-range models are not badly made, but Samsung's own solutions are relying on users being "Microsoft-people" - and Samsung has no proper way to provide feedback on bugs.
Samsung is a big component maker but is unable to make chips which would suit their top-range models and end up using Qualcomm chips in them. Yes they say all the time that next Ultra would have Exynos chip in it, but then still decide otherwise before phone comes out.

That's the curse of Android-world - if Samsung or Pixel does not suit you, you end up with mainly chinese options instead. For me it makes an obvious how to proceed - even after having quite big library of purchased apps in Google Play store.

Biggest disadvantage that Google and other Android vendors have is a lack of proper own desktop platform (for seamless interaction between devices). I am sorry but I am not going to solve this Mac+Android problem by buying Windows laptop or some crappy Chromebook - and I think that not many others would either.

 

[Le_Chiffre]

how do you export from Google Photos (took on a Pixel) to Mac Photos app, keeping all metadata, date, time, location, phone used etc

I have a P10PXL, photos and video taken go to Google photos. However I use a Mac and have all my photos and video in that app using iCloud.

What is best way to export from Google photos to Mac photos? keeping the info?

I've just opened Google Photos on safari, clicked a few pics, downloaded, then imported to Mac photos and the date is today when I downloaded it, not what I want.

Is there no Mac google photos app either?

It would be sooo much easier to just get an iPhone.

 

[benholt]

the reason dates land as "today" is Google splits the EXIF into a JSON sidecar next to each JPEG in the Takeout (photoTakenTime, geoData), and the JPEG on its own often has stripped or rewritten EXIF because Google re-encodes on upload. exiftool can fold the sidecar back into the file before you import, but the sidecar filenames from Takeout are truncated in annoying ways — google-photos-migrate (npm CLI) handles the truncation quirks and rewrites clean EXIF, then you import the fixed folder into Photos and dates + GPS come across right. skipping the metadata rehydration is basically why plain drag-and-drop loses everything.

 

[boppin]

Or use Microsoft OneDrive instead. It doesn't alter the creation date etc