message not syncing to MBP

[lori5060]

I have MBP, iPad6 and phone SE.

I thought I had synced them all together nicely.....
contacts, calendar, mail, notes etc all seem to work.
but for some reason pictures do not.

if I take a picture on my iPhone, it appears on iPad no problem.
same as if I take a screen shot or copy a pic from Facebook.

but these do not go over to my MBP.
in order to get them to MBP....I end up sending myself an email with the picture attached. then
save on my MBP.

FYI...I keep all my pictures on MBP in separate folder in my Documents folder

I've tried a few settings and options to see where I can fix this, but cannot find,
anyone got any idea of where I could go to check this out.

am sure it is supposed to work. everything else doest just fine!!

 

[badshoehabit]

Not sure I understand what you mean about keeping 'all my pictures on MBP in separate folder in my Documents folder'. Are you expecting them to go there automatically when syncing? Have you checked whether they are in Photos on the MBP because that's where they should go if you sync via iCloud PhotoStream. It has loads of options for filing and a good editing suite.

These are my settings on my MBP and similar on my iPad and phone.


Another point is that once PhotoStream contains 1000 images, it won't sync any more until some are deleted - but that doesn't explain reproducing on iPad correctly.

The fastest way to manually sync is via AirPort.

 

[lori5060]

badshoehabit...well i checked all my 3 devices and all have photo streaming checked.
not sure where on MBP the pictures/images from iPhone and iPad are supposed to appear.

I have the photos app in my bar at the Botton, I clicked on it....screen pops up and says welcome to photos
1. connect camera or memory card
2. drag pic directly into photos
3. choose import from file menu
4. turn on iCloud photo library in preferences.

so I opted for 4...turned on photos in iCloud, I think I did anyway
but now what??

 

[IWT]

Hi Lori

not sure where on MBP the pictures/images from iPhone and iPad are supposed to appear.

In Photos app.

For this to happen, all iDevices need to have My Photo Stream turned on/checked - which I think you have done? And all iDevices must have iCloud Photo Library turned off/unchecked.

On your MBPro, open Photos app, then Preferences (keyboard shortcut is Command plus "," i.e. comma) then Click on iCloud. Turn on/check My Photo Stream.

Then you are ready to go. Any pictures taken on an iDevice will sync automatically to the Photos app on your MBP - when they and the MBP are in WiFi range.

Whilst you are in the Photos app Preferences, you might wish to turn on/check iCloud Photo Library to save your photos to the Cloud. Up to you. BUT iCloud Photo Library MUST be turned off on all your iDevices - as I mentioned above.

Ian

 

[lori5060]

thnx Ian first I want to find out if you are talking about Sierra or high Sierra
so on my I decided to try this out on my iPhone.
I went in to turn off iCloud library...clicked settings then photos and at iCloud photo library…below that it said..automatically upload and store your entire library in iCloud to access photos and videos from all your devices.
I slid the slider from green to off …. Message: do you want to download a copy of your icloud photo library to this iphone? Photos and videos that have not been fully downloaded will be removed from this iphone. These items will still be available on other devices using iCloud photos library….options: remove from iphone/ download photos and videos or cancel.

now this made me little ansy...I am not very knowledgeable about photo libraries, the cloud and all that...hence I don't tend to use photos app. I keep all my pics etc in separate folder in my documents.

I don't want to lose what have on my iPhone nor iPad...

at prompt to download. photos/videos....downloading all to iCloud..wont that take up space using my 5GB free?

then when on MBP went into photos preferences there was none of the options you mentioned... only iCloud features for photos are only available in the system photo library.

hence the reason I asked if you may be using high Sierra and the reason for the difference in my views on my devices with Sierra.

 

[IWT]

The features I mention, Lori have been available well before Sierra. They are still available on Sierra and High Sierra.

I am on Sierra.

Below is a screenshot of what you do on your MBP.

Open Photos.

Open Photos Preferences either by clicking the Photos icon on the top Menu Bar and choosing Preferences or use the shortcut, Cmd plus , (Comma).

This is what you will see:



Click on iCloud as per arrow. This is what you will see.



iCloud Photo Library is optional.

Click on My Photo Stream as per lower arrow. Done.

And, don't worry about the scary message on the phone or other iDevice. My Photo Stream can only work on the iDevice if iCloud Photo Library is turned off.

Please advise if this helps.

Ian

 

[badshoehabit]

badshoehabit...well i checked all my 3 devices and all have photo streaming checked.
not sure where on MBP the pictures/images from iPhone and iPad are supposed to appear.

I have the photos app in my bar at the Botton, I clicked on it....screen pops up and says welcome to photos
1. connect camera or memory card
2. drag pic directly into photos
3. choose import from file menu
4. turn on iCloud photo library in preferences.

so I opted for 4...turned on photos in iCloud, I think I did anyway
but now what??

Apologies for late arrival - socialising. Those instructions are only if you are manually importing from camera or SD card. As Ian says, iCloud is optional. I have 36000+ images in Photos so switch off iCloud as I'm not paying for extra storage.

PhotoStream automatically syncs your pictures between devices into Photos.

How are you putting them into desktop folders? Seems a shame when Photos has an effective library system which you can personalise. I reckon all your images are in Photos as well as your desktop arrangement.

 

[ferrarr]

I just want ask/add, about iCloud apps, they need to be open, for sync to happen, correct? I usually leave Photos, Calendar, Reminders, Notes, etc, and all iCloud sync apps open on my Mac, so they will update as needed? The apps won't sync/update, if they're closed, right?

 

[IWT]

Bob, you raise a good point:

I can go as far as saying that I never leave an app open on my iMac when not in use (except, see below); but then those apps and their contents which I do want to sync are used on a daily basis and so presumably that's when the sync takes place.

The apps you mention, I also use and I can often see the sync taking place as I type - Notes for instance.

The only apps I leave open at the end of the day are Mail, Calendar, Contacts because I use these all the time. Safari is closed.

I concede that if you are importing masses of pictures into Photos app, then the sync process can take a long time. Even then, I quit it when not actively using it. It presumably picks up where it left off on re-opening.

I never shut down my iMac unless away for a few days. Sometimes I leave it running 24/7, sometimes sleep the iMac over night. Reboot every 2 weeks or so, or if required by a software update.

I'm glad to say that I've not yet encountered a sync problem.

Ian

 

[badshoehabit]

I just want ask/add, about iCloud apps, they need to be open, for sync to happen, correct? I usually leave Photos, Calendar, Reminders, Notes, etc, and all iCloud sync apps open on my Mac, so they will update as needed? The apps won't sync/update, if they're closed, right?

All that is needed is for wifi to be on and the devices powered on. I never switch anything off. Except for Photos, it doesn't matter whether apps are open or not. Contrarily, the Camera Roll and Photos app need to be closed for immediate sync!

 

[lori5060]

thank you all for your information. for me this will be a challenge to overcome the habit of having my pictures in of Documents instead of in PHOTOS.
I guess I am bit of control freak and like to have good handle of how my picture are organized. PHOTOS and Photos Library reminds me a bit of Picassa whereby photos get uploaded and put in the folder names of their choice. I found it very confusing. hence I began creating my own separate folders for picture.
but I can see I am going to have to change if I want my pictures to appear on MBP as they do on iPhone and iPad.

I don't have a tremendous amount of pics on my iPhone/ipad tho not sure what is in THE CLOUD.
just to easy my tension over this change..I will copy all pics I do have to an external drive. that way, if things are lost..I can always get them back.
on the positive note: Probably once I make the change I will love it and be so glad I did it. and it will make my life of picture transferring so much easier.

 

[badshoehabit]

Photos does not work like that. All the images go into the master library and it's up to you to organise and name albums and folders. Just remember the hierarchy is Album > Folder > Album. Private message me if you want a hand with Team Viewer.

 

[pm-r]

thank you all for your information. for me this will be a challenge to overcome the habit of having my pictures in of Documents instead of in PHOTOS.

Not to confuse your issue, but there are lots of ways to still carry on probably doing what you've always done and you don't have to go with Apples implied methods.

Jut do some web searches like this or variations:
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=sync+mac+and+ios+folders&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Lots of hits with various options and many done they way YOU want.




- Patrick
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