Manually add photos back to camera roll with iCloud Photo Library on?

[ryan-e-w]

I'm on iOS 8 and I'm having a similar issue with photos as with music when iTunes Match began. What I'd like to be able to do is sync(/add to hard disk) certain photos manually, while still having iCloud Photo Library active.

My issue is that I did a second clean install of iOS 8 instead of restoring from a backup. (Which finally made my 4S usable again.) In doing so, I lost all of my photos from my camera roll. (Though I have them all saved and backed up in iPhoto.

Is there a way to manually drop all of these photos/videos back into my camera roll outside of syncing the iPhoto folder?

Edit: An extra minute of research was possibly needed. iExplorer couldn't do it, but currently looking at Rollit which seems promising. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id741790426?mt=8

 

[BrettDS]

I used photosync for this, which is a great app and was one of the best I could find for reloading photos to the camera roll. It does it all automatically and you can do thousands of photos at once without an issue. I think it was like $2, but well worth it IMO. I've used it several different times.

The only problem is that right now photosync isn't compatible with iOS 8. I had to load iOS 7, install photosync, transfer the photos, then upgrade to iOS 8. If you can wait a bit I'm sure that they'll update the app to add iOS 8 compatibility after iOS 8 is released.

 

[eark555]

Try ImagesTransfer you will be more easily to transfer photo to camera roll directly and it worked on iOS8

 

[Squeak825]

Try ImagesTransfer you will be more easily to transfer photo to camera roll directly and it worked on iOS8

What is "ImagesTransfer"? I can't seem to find that anywhere. Do you have a link to the app?

 

[ziggie216]

I believe you can mass airdrop your photos.

 

[BrettDS]

What is "ImagesTransfer"? I can't seem to find that anywhere. Do you have a link to the app?

Looks like there's an app called Image Transfer... https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/image-transfer-photo-video/id588696602?mt=8

I've never used it before, but it looks like this might be what he's referring to.

 

[alanferned]

I wish they would bring camera roll back

 

[coocat86]

Is there an option to only do this on wifi so it doesnt use data?

 

[BrettDS]

Is there an option to only do this on wifi so it doesnt use data?

An option to do what on wifi? Most of the apps mentioned here do use wifi. If you mean just syncing the phone with IPL, then you can turn off cellular data for photos.

 

[coocat86]

An option to do what on wifi? Most of the apps mentioned here do use wifi. If you mean just syncing the phone with IPL, then you can turn off cellular data for photos.

Basically an option so it will automatically back up only when on Wifi. I think the Galaxy s5 has that (basically it will automatically back up your photos but you can choose to have it done either when only on wifi, only while charging, or a combination of the two). That way it will never back up when you are just on data or not charging.

 

[BrettDS]

Basically an option so it will automatically back up only when on Wifi. I think the Galaxy s5 has that (basically it will automatically back up your photos but you can choose to have it done either when only on wifi, only while charging, or a combination of the two). That way it will never back up when you are just on data or not charging.

Maybe I'm just dense, but I'm still about confused about what you're asking. If you're talking about backing up the whole phone to iCloud, then the automatic backup runs when you are connected to wifi and you plug the device in. (Although it only runs once a day, so if you plug your device in several times a day then it will only back up once). You can start a backup manually whenever you want, plugged in or not, but you still need to be connected to wifi for it. It's not possible to backup the device over cellular data.

If you're talking about copying photos to the iCould Photo Library (which really isn't a backup, but a new way to store and sync photos among your devices), then you can force that to happen over wifi only by going into settings and turning off cellular data for photos. There is no way to force that to happen only when your device is plugged in, though.

 

[Joseph C]

I'm having this problem as well. I did a clean install of iOS 8, restored from backup and iCloud Photo Library restored the pictures but seemingly not the hard copies.

I've tried AirDropping from iOS to Mac, and though all the files start to copy across only about 10 do, sometimes less.

There must be a way to get them onto the Mac manually? If I plug my phone into iPhoto, not only do the pictures from my phone only partially appear, but they are unedited versions.

Wonder if Dropbox or something might be a solution.

 

[Joseph C]

Update:


Very frustrating stuff, there seems to be no way to get the pictures out of the phone to the computer, if they are in iCloud Photo library, without losing edits and - it seems - DATES.

If I AirDrop to Mac, edits are retained but it sends only a small proportion to the computer. And these photos that do make it have today's date, not their original date, when added to iPhoto.

Dropbox is the same, all Missing Dates.

Apple have lost the plot in failing to make iCloud Photos compatible with iPhoto OR releasing Photos for Mac in Beta alongside iOS 8 and Yosemite.

 

[newagemac]

There's a simple solution to your problem. If you really need to use your photos on your Mac the way iCloud Photos was designed, then don't turn on iCloud Photos until the Mac app is available. You can still do everything the same way you always have with iOS8 and Yosemite. And there is no reason to hold iCloud Photos back from people who only use or care about photos on their smartphones and iPads (and there are a lot of them).


The Photos app for Mac is coming. A little patience goes a long way. This reminds me of those people who complain about how slow/buggy downloading is when they try to download a big update right after the announcement by every news source on the planet rather than just wait a few hours like any sane person would do. It seems the idea of patience is lost on this generation.