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Nightmare. No way to get iCloud Photos to Mac?

Joseph C

Joseph C

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 5, 2009
1,459
2,769
It seems there is NO way to get your photos safely backed up to your Mac (or PC) from your iPhone running iOS 8 until Photos for Mac launches in 2015.

* AirDropping from iOS to Mac does not work; only some pictures transfer. (I might try AirDropping 5, for instance, and only 1 would download onto the Mac)

* Photo dates do not carry across 99% of the time when copying them in any way from iCloud Photo Library EVEN if the photos were taken on the device, and display as the current date for today.

* An alternative solution such as Dropboxing them from the phone is inconsistent with resolution, and shows missing dates meaning they would be all clumped together in iPhoto

* Plugging phone into Mac brings up only a portion of the photos in iPhoto, with no edits to boot.

* Trying to turn off iCloud Photo Library presents message that "Not all photos and videos are fully downloaded because storage space is low on this phone" (3GB free) "If you continue, photos and videos not fully downloaded will be removed from iPhone". Two options: "REMOVE FROM iPHONE" or "Manage Storage". Dead end.

The latest iOS 8 beta includes options to "store full-resolution copies on device" or just thumbnails. Even with the "store full-resolution copies" option on, these pictures cannot be imported with the correct dates and edits from the phone to the computer.

What a nightmare for users, one that will continue long past the launch of iOS 8 and through to the Photos for Mac launch in 2015. A very half-baked solution.

I guess the only solution is to abandon iPhoto / photos on the Mac, and turn on the thumbnails/space saving option in iCloud Photo Library, and trust they are safe there - not just now during the beta but from next month's public release until Apple issues Photos for Mac.

If anyone knows anything I'm missing, I'd love to hear it. Apart from this iOS 8 has been skilfully done and all the continuity features with Handoff and evolutions to iCloud have been great.

But Photos, what a mess. :mad:
 
Joseph H said:
What a nightmare for users, one that will continue long past the launch of iOS 8 and through to the Photos for Mac launch in 2015. A very half-baked solution.
Click to expand...
Until iOS8 is released, I wouldn't jump to conclusions. To put it another way, don't expect everything to work bug/problem free when running a developer preview that apple intended for developers to test their apps with.
 
Did you turn on iCloud photos? I use the same old set up as iOS 7 with photo stream enable and iCloud photos off. The photos are uploaded automatically to iCloud and are then downloaded to my Mac when I launch iPhoto. Everything is working automatically as usual, no problem here.
 
What about using one of the Apps for Mac that allow you to browse your phone directories and just copy them directly? iFunBox and there's another one.

Sounds like the dates may not have been saved though.
 
azentropy said:
If they are still on your camera roll can't you just use Image Capture?
Click to expand...

Not all pictures exist in this view due to iCloud Photo Library removing some full-res versions.

They also have no edits.

Stuke00 said:
Disable iCloud photos and use photostream iPhoto import on the Mac.
Click to expand...

I can't disable iCloud Photos and use Photo Stream, even though I have 3GB free on the phone when I try to disable iCloud Photos it says not all my photos/videos are downloaded, and that turning it off will remove photos from my phone.

And yes I freaking know it's a beta. Considering it looks likely there are not going to be any more betas before GM, it's not great form for this sort of problem to exist. I'll happily wait until release time but I'm still doubtful it will be fixed until Photos for Mac is released, and a lot of consumers will be pissed about this.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Stuke00 said:
Do you not have iCloud photos set to download all full res photos?
Click to expand...

I do, yes.
I have it set to "Download and Keep Originals". You'd think this would sync your iCloud Photo Library and dates/edits to the phone's storage for uploading to a computer.

I still have 3GB free on my phone.

Yet Image Capture/iPhoto etc don't show all the pictures, and any they do are unedited/rotated/adjusted. As mentioned, Dropboxing or AirDropping does not copy the dates across.

I know it's a beta but as I said there are no more betas expected before GM (a new beta was seeded to carriers but not devs). iCloud Photos will not be hitting the Mac till 2015 and there is no signs iCloud Photo Library will be supported in iPhoto even after the next (GM) release. God knows what Windows users face.

From what I can tell, enabling iCloud Photo Library migrates your photos from accessible storage, separates edits from the files and handles it all in the cloud, and the system only works on iOS devices, period. There is no way to get all your edited/dated images off your phone and onto a computer with it enabled.

And worst of all, it appears impossible to disable iCPL without losing photos, and even then it is unknown as to whether Photo Stream would then upload all your pictures anyway.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Joseph H said:
I do, yes.
I have it set to "Download and Keep Originals". You'd think this would sync your iCloud Photo Library and dates/edits to the phone's storage for uploading to a computer.

I still have 3GB free on my phone.

Yet Image Capture/iPhoto etc don't show all the pictures, and any they do are unedited/rotated/adjusted. As mentioned, Dropboxing or AirDropping does not copy the dates across.

I know it's a beta but as I said there are no more betas expected before GM (a new beta was seeded to carriers but not devs). iCloud Photos will not be hitting the Mac till 2015 and there is no signs iCloud Photo Library will be supported in iPhoto even after the next (GM) release. God knows what Windows users face.

From what I can tell, enabling iCloud Photo Library migrates your photos from accessible storage, separates edits from the files and handles it all in the cloud, and the system only works on iOS devices, period. There is no way to get all your edited/dated images off your phone and onto a computer with it enabled.

And worst of all, it appears impossible to disable iCPL without losing photos, and even then it is unknown as to whether Photo Stream would then upload all your pictures anyway.
Click to expand...

Is iPhoto not showing some pictures because "Photostream" has picked them up?

See if there is an option to show all photos.
 
Joseph H said:
iCloud Photos will not be hitting the Mac till 2015 and there is no signs iCloud Photo Library will be supported in iPhoto even after the next (GM) release.
Click to expand...

Knowing this, why did you enable iCloud Photos? Seemed like a no-brainer to leave it disabled, since there would be no easy way to sync with my Mac.
 
mavis said:
Knowing this, why did you enable iCloud Photos? Seemed like a no-brainer to leave it disabled, since there would be no easy way to sync with my Mac.
Click to expand...

I had no notion it would affect photos taken on the phone's core storage. In other words, I had an understanding it would replace Photo Stream, but not affect the camera roll/uploading with a cable to a computer.

Anyway looks like this issue won't be fixed even by GM so here's hoping a Photos.app beta comes in late 2014 / as close to the release of iOS 8/Yosemite as no single method will get the pictures from the phone manually to the computer while preserving edits and metadata. I foresee a lot of crying about this when iOS 8 is released unless Apple temporarily patches iPhoto to include iCPL support or releases Photos.app in beta.

It is rather unfortunate it's not even possible to mass AirDrop files from iOS 8 to Mac, and that even individually doing so doesn't preserve dates on the photos. Apple really should offer some sort of proper local storage of photos even if the library is handled by iCPL, and that local/offline storage should include edits and dates.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have to agree with the OP here. I don't really have any important pics on my phone / iPad so it doesn't really matter much to me right now, HOWEVER, the implementation does seem very messy and buggy at this moment in time. Yes I know its a beta, I just hope that its all working nice and smooth once iOS8 is officially released.
 
Have you tried using the sharing tab in photos on your iOS device and use I loud photo sharing? That works for me with iPhoto.

Also, there's an option in settings under photos and camera to turn photo stream on, even with having iCloud photo library turned on.

There's a chance we will see a patch for iPhoto when ios 8 launches.
 
I'm having the same issue as the OP. I want to download all my full res photos and videos to my phone then transfer them into iPhoto. But my phone says not all photos and videos have been downloaded due to low storage...I have 15GB free. Now I'm confused as what to do when I sell my 5S for a 6. Do I switch to optimize iPhone storage and hope all my full res pictures are in the cloud and will download onto my new phone?
 
Joseph H said:
It seems there is NO way to get your photos safely backed up to your Mac (or PC) from your iPhone running iOS 8 until Photos for Mac launches in 2015.

* AirDropping from iOS to Mac does not work; only some pictures transfer. (I might try AirDropping 5, for instance, and only 1 would download onto the Mac)

* Photo dates do not carry across 99% of the time when copying them in any way from iCloud Photo Library EVEN if the photos were taken on the device, and display as the current date for today.

* An alternative solution such as Dropboxing them from the phone is inconsistent with resolution, and shows missing dates meaning they would be all clumped together in iPhoto

* Plugging phone into Mac brings up only a portion of the photos in iPhoto, with no edits to boot.

* Trying to turn off iCloud Photo Library presents message that "Not all photos and videos are fully downloaded because storage space is low on this phone" (3GB free) "If you continue, photos and videos not fully downloaded will be removed from iPhone". Two options: "REMOVE FROM iPHONE" or "Manage Storage". Dead end.

The latest iOS 8 beta includes options to "store full-resolution copies on device" or just thumbnails. Even with the "store full-resolution copies" option on, these pictures cannot be imported with the correct dates and edits from the phone to the computer.

What a nightmare for users, one that will continue long past the launch of iOS 8 and through to the Photos for Mac launch in 2015. A very half-baked solution.

I guess the only solution is to abandon iPhoto / photos on the Mac, and turn on the thumbnails/space saving option in iCloud Photo Library, and trust they are safe there - not just now during the beta but from next month's public release until Apple issues Photos for Mac.

If anyone knows anything I'm missing, I'd love to hear it. Apart from this iOS 8 has been skilfully done and all the continuity features with Handoff and evolutions to iCloud have been great.

But Photos, what a mess. :mad:
Click to expand...
Umm 1 solution, if u have the photos on your phone and iCloud library both, then plug in your phone in your mac and just copy paste the photos from your iphone to your mac..
 
Sir Ruben said:
I have to agree with the OP here. I don't really have any important pics on my phone / iPad so it doesn't really matter much to me right now, HOWEVER, the implementation does seem very messy and buggy at this moment in time. Yes I know its a beta, I just hope that its all working nice and smooth once iOS8 is officially released.
Click to expand...

Someone else who can see it from my perspective! It's very frustrating.

bnekic said:
I'm having the same issue as the OP. I want to download all my full res photos and videos to my phone then transfer them into iPhoto. But my phone says not all photos and videos have been downloaded due to low storage...I have 15GB free. Now I'm confused as what to do when I sell my 5S for a 6. Do I switch to optimize iPhone storage and hope all my full res pictures are in the cloud and will download onto my new phone?
Click to expand...

Exactly. Maybe it'll be all fixed in the next build, the GM.

I no longer trust my iCloud device backup to include the COMPLETE camera roll, which is concerning to me as until I can get the pics saved on the computer with the correct dates I'm not going to feel that comfortable even getting a new phone. From what I understand iCloud device backups no longer completely include the photos, since iCPL has taken over some or all of the photos side.

I think if I was to do a restore now from iCloud backup, it would restore the phone and the pictures would come back just like apps do, from a separate service (i.e. not the App Store but the iCloud Photo Library). Given its current status I'm scared not all photos would return.

shandyman said:
Have you tried using the sharing tab in photos on your iOS device and use I loud photo sharing? That works for me with iPhoto.

Also, there's an option in settings under photos and camera to turn photo stream on, even with having iCloud photo library turned on.

There's a chance we will see a patch for iPhoto when ios 8 launches.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the idea. I've tried it, and I can confirm that any edited photo is thrown up with the date of import being the photo's date.

Still, it's the closest I'll get to having them on the computer, even if they don't correctly show the right dates in iPhoto.

Apple blogger said:
Umm 1 solution, if u have the photos on your phone and iCloud library both, then plug in your phone in your mac and just copy paste the photos from your iphone to your mac..
Click to expand...

I dunno, perhaps you could read the thread.
 
Joseph H said:
Thanks for the idea. I've tried it, and I can confirm that any edited photo is thrown up with the date of import being the photo's date.

Still, it's the closest I'll get to having them on the computer, even if they don't correctly show the right dates in iPhoto.
Click to expand...


Well that's the only way until we see what Apple do when iOS 8 is released.
 
they should remove this "feature" until Photo for mac is released next year. it also seems to be quite confusing to have local storage, photostream and iCloud Photo as an option for the avg. user in general
 
bushido said:
they should remove this "feature" until Photo for mac is released next year. it also seems to be quite confusing to have local storage, photostream and iCloud Photo as an option for the avg. user in general
Click to expand...


It's an opt in thing in the first place. If you don't want to use ICloud Photo Library, don't enable it. Having it turned on only inconveniences people that use iPhoto. A lot of iOS users don't use iPhoto, so this is still a brilliant feature. Why deprive them when it's an opt in feature?!?
 
shandyman said:
It's an opt in thing in the first place. If you don't want to use ICloud Photo Library, don't enable it. Having it turned on only inconveniences people that use iPhoto. A lot of iOS users don't use iPhoto, so this is still a brilliant feature. Why deprive them when it's an opt in feature?!?
Click to expand...

cuz its a *****torm waiting to happen with noobs not knowing what it means and just enabling it cuz the icon looks pretty. releasing something without having the other part ready for another half year or so seems very microsoft to me
 
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