iPad Pro open (macOS) Photos library (on external SSD) on iPad Pro

[objektør]

Planning to buy an iPad Pro. I keep my MacOS Photos library on an external SSD. Is it possible to open this library when I connect the SSD to an iPad Pro 11 (2018 model) with the files app? The library is about 150GB and the iPad is only 64GB.
The Mac is Intel but would it work with a M1 MBA?

 

[ericwn]

I haven’t tried this but last I checked all Apple apps required the use of the internal storage on iPad.

With a 64 GB iPad you could get the images into iCloud and then keep the original files to the cloud.

 

[objektør]

I haven’t tried this but last I checked all Apple apps required the use of the internal storage on iPad.

With a 64 GB iPad you could get the images into iCloud and then keep the original files to the cloud.

Thanks. I considered iCloud but we live quite remote and not always connected to the internet.
I thought of having 2 identical ssd's. One for macOS and one for iOS but if I can't open the SSD iOS Photos library on the iPad I will have to find another workaround.

 

[getrealbro]

I just loaded a 40GB macOS Photos Library onto a 1TB Samsung T7 and then attached it to my iPad Air 4 running iPadOS 14.2. I didn’t expect for the iPad’s Photos app to open the macOS Photos library. But it was much worse than that. The iPad Photos app didn’t even offer to import the photos.

The Files app did recognize the macOS Photos library. But it treated it as a simple folder. IOW the iPad Files app displayed the macOS Photos library like you would see when you Show Package Contents in the Finder

GetRealBro

 

[AutomaticApple]

I thought of having 2 identical ssd's. One for macOS and one for iOS but if I can't open the SSD iOS Photos library on the iPad I will have to find another workaround.

I have never heard of such a workaround, so I'm doubtful that there even is one.

 

[ouimetnick]

I just loaded a 40GB macOS Photos Library onto a 1TB Samsung T7 and then attached it to my iPad Air 4 running iPadOS 14.2. I didn’t expect for the iPad’s Photos app to open the macOS Photos library. But it was much worse than that. The iPad Photos app didn’t even offer to import the photos.

The Files app did recognize the macOS Photos library. But it treated it as a simple folder. IOW the iPad Files app displayed the macOS Photos library like you would see when you Show Package Contents in the Finder

GetRealBro

That's why I find it amusing & laughable when Apple advertises the iPad as being "your next computer" iPad is a great consumption device and a great productivity device for a small group of people. Apple's solution is that your Photos library on macOS should be part of iCloud as your iPad/iPhone's library should be. There should be one large library stored in iCloud (great way to sell those monthly storage plans) rather that what you are trying to do.

I was mentioning on the iPad subreddit that while the iPad hardware is very advanced and powerful, iPadOS is so limited it's laughable. Where are the "pro" apps for the iPad "Pro". Where is Final Cut at? Where is a full version of iMovie for iPadOS at? I was fumbling around with iMovie on iPad to make a teardown video (footage shot on iPhone 11 Pro Max, seamlessly appeared in the Photos app on iPad thanks to iCloud) and the title options were only a few options compared to the MANY options on the real iMovie for macOS.

I wanted to speed up a clip, but you can only increase the speed 2X with iMovie for iPad. I wanted 2.5x on some clips, and more on others. Again, you need a real computer to do that. My old MBP struggled with 4K, but I was able to accomplish what I wanted while iPad Pro works well with 4K, options are extremely limited.

 

[objektør]

I just loaded a 40GB macOS Photos Library onto a 1TB Samsung T7 and then attached it to my iPad Air 4 running iPadOS 14.2. I didn’t expect for the iPad’s Photos app to open the macOS Photos library. But it was much worse than that. The iPad Photos app didn’t even offer to import the photos.

The Files app did recognize the macOS Photos library. But it treated it as a simple folder. IOW the iPad Files app displayed the macOS Photos library like you would see when you Show Package Contents in the Finder

GetRealBro

Thanks for trying. I more or less expected this but was hoping for some 'magic' miracle...
Probably it's not possible either to export a whole iOS Photos library to an SSD than? Like in MacOS you have the option to chose between multiple Photos libraries.

I have never heard of such a workaround, so I'm doubtful that there even is one.

Me too but with 'workaround' I meant that I might look for another third party library solution that the IPP can open from a SSD or just simply put the files I need to edit (in Affinity photo) in folders in the Files app and move them back and forth to my MacOS Photos library. Not a 'seamless' workflow and not what I really want.
Any suggestions or other solutions are more than welcome.

 

[secretk]

Thanks for trying. I more or less expected this but was hoping for some 'magic' miracle...
Probably it's not possible either to export a whole iOS Photos library to an SSD than? Like in MacOS you have the option to chose between multiple Photos libraries.

You can export photos from the iPad to an external storage. I use an SD card dongle (bought from AliExpress) and its companion app for that. I can export selected photo/albums or the whole library. The dongle has USB-C, lighting and USB-A port so works for all devices. With my iPP I can technically export to SSD but I would not do it for few reasons:

1. iPadOS sucks when it comes to file transfers of big files or multiple files. No progress bar or some elapsed expected time. You have no idea what's going on.
2. iPP storage seems to be slow because file transfers are slower than what I would expect and what I see on my laptop.
3. As a whole Flies app is not stable enough and can corrupt files while transferring.

Me too but with 'workaround' I meant that I might look for another third party library solution that the IPP can open from a SSD or just simply put the files I need to edit (in Affinity photo) in folders in the Files app and move them back and forth to my MacOS Photos library. Not a 'seamless' workflow and not what I really want.
Any suggestions or other solutions are more than welcome.

Maybe stupid comment on my part but I doubt that you need to export all files to the iPad. You most probably need few selected files to work on. Here again I prefer to use my SD card dongle than SSD. iPads do not handle well SSD that has way too many files and folders. It is really slow and it takes a lot of time to load. I would usually transfer image files to the SD card (including raw files), I would store them in Camera roll on the iPad and then open them in Affinity Photo. From what I remember Affinity Photo cannot access images from external storage, it has to be stored in Camera roll. Maybe I misremember something though.

This workflow works for few photos but it is not streamline and straightforward and I would not use it as main photo processing workflow. Way too many steps. It does work for few cases where I want to use the pencil to improve a photo though.

ETA: I opened Affinity. It seems that you can either import from Photos app or from cloud for an individual photo. For the Batch option it seems that you can import only from files (either cloud or iPad storage).

 

[objektør]

You can export photos from the iPad to an external storage. I use an SD card dongle (bought from AliExpress) and its companion app for that. I can export selected photo/albums or the whole library. The dongle has USB-C, lighting and USB-A port so works for all devices. With my iPP I can technically export to SSD but I would not do it for few reasons:

1. iPadOS sucks when it comes to file transfers of big files or multiple files. No progress bar or some elapsed expected time. You have no idea what's going on.
2. iPP storage seems to be slow because file transfers are slower than what I would expect and what I see on my laptop.
3. As a whole Flies app is not stable enough and can corrupt files while transferring.

Maybe stupid comment on my part but I doubt that you need to export all files to the iPad. You most probably need few selected files to work on. Here again I prefer to use my SD card dongle than SSD. iPads do not handle well SSD that has way too many files and folders. It is really slow and it takes a lot of time to load. I would usually transfer image files to the SD card (including raw files), I would store them in Camera roll on the iPad and then open them in Affinity Photo. From what I remember Affinity Photo cannot access images from external storage, it has to be stored in Camera roll. Maybe I misremember something though.

This workflow works for few photos but it is not streamline and straightforward and I would not use it as main photo processing workflow. Way too many steps. It does work for few cases where I want to use the pencil to improve a photo though.

Thanks for the input. Right now (it seems) the easiest way to edit in Affinity (with pencil and layers) is to 'airdrop' the original files from the MacOS Photos library on SSD to the camera roll ( iOS library) on the iPP and when done move them back to the original Photos library. Will this be a non-destructive proces? I mean, can I later open it again in Affinity on the iPP and still edit the layers etc?

 

[secretk]

Thanks for the input. Right now (it seems) the easiest way to edit in Affinity (with pencil and layers) is to 'airdrop' the original files from the MacOS Photos library on SSD to the camera roll ( iOS library) on the iPP and when done move them back to the original Photos library. Will this be a non-destructive proces? I mean, can I later open it again in Affinity on the iPP and still edit the layers etc?

When you are talking about original files, do you mean original RAW files/jpeg or something else. I do not have MAC and I do not know if Affinity has project files. This is why I am asking.

I don't remember if you can save RAW files in your Camera roll. I remember that I had some issues but I don't remember if it was because once storing them I could not differentiate them from the jpeg files in the Photos app or because I could not save them at all and I had to export them in jpeg. Also as I do not own Mac I have not tested Airdrop of RAW files so I cannot say if it works.

In terms of destructive vs non-destructive it depends on what you do with Afffinity. Some effects are destructive, some are not. So you need to pay attention to what you do. If you have layers than yes you can deactivate them if needed. If you apply the effects directly on the JPEG file you might not be able to go back.

 

[objektør]

I mostly use jpeg. I'll have to wait and see how all this with exporting in and out of Affinity and back and forth to macOS Photos will affect destruction or not.
Nice to hear what kind of workflows people have for different purposes.
Thanks

 

[ThrowerGB]

Planning to buy an iPad Pro. I keep my MacOS Photos library on an external SSD. Is it possible to open this library when I connect the SSD to an iPad Pro 11 (2018 model) with the files app? The library is about 150GB and the iPad is only 64GB.
The Mac is Intel but would it work with a M1 MBA?

You're probably better off getting an iPad with 256GB memory. A good number of years ago, An iPad I had had some problems when it's memory was ~90% full. That may have been a S/W bug at that time, but since then when I've gotten a new iPad or iPhone, I make sure I have plenty of memory.

 

[objektør]

You're probably better off getting an iPad with 256GB memory. A good number of years ago, An iPad I had had some problems when it's memory was ~90% full. That may have been a S/W bug at that time, but since then when I've gotten a new iPad or iPhone, I make sure I have plenty of memory.

I get your point but I got my hands on an almost new iPP 11’’ with LTE for a very good price but it only has 64gb. The 256gb is just too expensive. I thought I will easily get by with a SSD now the iPP has usb-c 3.1