Photos v iPhoto in macOS Sierra - should there be only one?

[MBP17•David]

Well, basically just as the subject says, I've upgraded my MacBook Pro 17" from Mavericks to Sierra, and now have both apps: Photos and iPhoto.

I seem to remember reading that, when Photos app was introduced, it took over iPhoto app?
As it wasn't really relevant at the time, I didn't pay much attention - I was going to stick with Mavericks ...

I have to clarify: my iPhoto library is on the second SSD, so perhaps that's why it wasn't removed/replaced/absorbed by Photos.

I don't really mind having two apps, it's not like I'm short on space, but now neither of them starts automatically when iPhone or iPad is connected.
Plus, I suspect the iPhoto won't be updated anymore, so it might start having issues with macOS updates, as it is not supposed to be here (again, if I remember correctly).

What would be the best way to deal with this duplication? Move the iPhoto library to the main SSD and reinstall Photos? Something else?

 

[MacInWin]

Photos didn't "take over" iPhoto. Apple left iPhoto in the Applications folder along with Photos, put Photos on the Dock as default. If you want to use iPhoto, you can, at least for a while. The location of your library is immaterial, Photos will only import that library if you tell it to.

What I would suggest would be to import the iPhoto database into Photos because, as you said, iPhoto isn't getting any updates and eventually Apple will cease to care if it works with macOS. I don't think you have to move the iPhoto library, just import it. I think you can set the location of the Photos database in Photos/Preferences, but I don't use either, so you may have to check with a Photos expert on that one.

 

[Rod]

Just hold the option key when you open Photos. You will be presented with a list of photo libraries (if you have more than one) select the current default one and allow Photos to load and convert them if necessary. Can take some time. If you then look in the Pictures folder you should see two Libraries, one iphotoiphotolibrary and one photos library. They should be the same size if you right click and Get Info.
When you connect your iPhone you will need to decide which library to use. At the top of the Photos window you should see an Open Photos when iPhone is connected. If not check Photos Preferences. From that point on your new pictures will go into the Photos Library not iPhoto.

 

[MBP17•David]

Great, thanks Rod & Jake.
I only use iPhoto as a conduit for iPhone pics, so perfect solution in Rod's post.
Cheers!

 

[MacInWin]

You might want to shift over to Image Capture to import photos. Apple is likely to get more aggressive about shedding iPhoto in the near future. They brought out Photos, want people to move to it, but left iPhoto there for, I suspect, people to have a chance to transition before the hammer falls.

 

[ferrarr]

+ 1 for Image Capture. The easiest app to use to get the pictures to your computer into a folder of your choosing.

 

[pm-r]

+ 1. The easiest app to use to get the pictures to your computer into a folder of your choosing.

Make that +2 for Image Capture, and set the option in its Preferences, even if I'm still using Mavicks and no Photos.app.




- Patrick
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[badshoehabit]

Been using Photos for over a year but discovered an iPhotos library still in existence and using a lot of memory. Deleted it and over 200gb memory released.

 

[pm-r]

Deleted it and over 200gb memory released.

Well, maybe saved some drive storage space…





- Patrick
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[badshoehabit]

Memory/storage, whatever. Been sampling home made liqueurs, hic...

 

[MBP17•David]

Thanks everyone

All done, Photos running the newly imported library, iPhoto is out ... did an extra backup of its library, before conversion.
I quite like to see the same layout / structure on iPhone and MBP, so will stick with Photos for now.
Took a few hours to finish the facial recognition scanning, as it's only done when the app is not in use.
No duplicates or errors when synced with iPhone.

All in all - another pleasant experience.

 

[Rod]

Very successful post all round really, badshoehabit you would not be alone with the duplicate library thing. I'm pretty certain a lot of people do/did not know that Photos would create another library leaving the old iPhoto library intact. Found out when I compared sizes just ensure I had the same content in both. I got back 64Gb
Oh, and +3 for image capture.

 

[pm-r]

Very successful post all round really,

Agreed, and it can be really quite amazing how much duplicated and surplus data on can have installed on their drives just taking up extra space and resources the OS needs to look after it all.




- Patrick
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[MBP17•David]

Yup, extracted Masters and deleted the original library, which was over double the size of masters (i.e. the original files).

 

[ferrarr]

I use Image Capture to get the photos on to my computer, then I add them to Photos, but I don't copy them to Photos, saves space that way. Same thing with music and iTunes.

 

[badshoehabit]

I use Image Capture to get the photos on to my computer, then I add them to Photos, but I don't copy them to Photos, saves space that way. Same thing with music and iTunes.

I import straight into Photos. What's the difference?

 

[ferrarr]

I import straight into Photos. What's the difference?

No difference, I just like to have my photos in folders, and not stored in a database.