chrstinefromqld
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Why can't I subscribe to a shared album in iCloud?  I am signed in on all my 3 devices, and sharing works perfectly on my iPhone and iPad, but not on my iMac.

I am very frustrated as to WHY I can not subscribe to a shared photos album on my mac.  When I hit subscribe within the email sent to me with the invite, it goes to check the shared data, and then tells me that it is not available on my device, and needs the latest upgrade and to be signed in with iCloud.  This does not make sense, as I am sharing EXACTLY the same album on my iPhone and iPad with no problem.  I am signed in on all 3 devices with the same email and password.  I have just recently upgraded my mac to 10.10.3 with the new Photos app.  I was a previous user of iPhoto, and they automatically migrated over to Photo, and in my Pictures folder, I have 2 folders.  One is called iPhoto Library and the other is called Photos Library 2.  I have been able to create a shared album of my own within Photos, but I CAN NOT ADD ANY PHOTOS TO IT.  This seems to be a separate issue by itself.  If I could add photos, I could then test by sending an invite and seeing if people could subscribe to my album, but what is the point when one can not put a photo in it?  The SOLE reason I want to share an album on my iMac, is because the photos are the largest, I prefer to keyboard rather than touchpad in comments, and most photos between the person I want to share with are stored on our iMacs, not our other devices.   So there is the big issue of not being able to subscribe when I am signed in with the latest upgrade, but also the secondary issue of not being able to put photos in a shared album.  Thank you for reading, and I appreciate ANY help.

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012), My current system is 10.10.3

Posted on May 8, 2015 7:46 PM

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chrstinefromqld

Q: Why can't I subscribe to a shared album in iCloud?  I am signed in on all my 3 devices, and sharing works perfectly on my iPh ... more

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  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root May 9, 2015 1:35 PM in response to chrstinefromqld
    Level 9 (72,258 points)
    iTunes
    May 9, 2015 1:35 PM in response to chrstinefromqld

    Have you gone to Photos/Preferences/iCloud and checked the applicable boxes there? Also System Preferences/iCloud is Photos selected and Photos/Options selected?

  • by chrstinefromqld,

    chrstinefromqld chrstinefromqld May 9, 2015 6:04 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 9, 2015 6:04 PM in response to Eric Root

    Thanks for your help, and yes all the right boxes are ticked in Photos preferences/iCloud.  I have had 2 apple support people talking to me, and one even remote viewing my screen to no avail.  I do have one question though, and it is regarding the main Photo's box (the top one) in System Preferences/iCloud.  This is not ticked AND YET IS TICKED ON MY IPHONE AND IPAD (the colourful Photos app symbol).  The difference on my iMac is that when I tick it, it says "checking library"..and then tells me that my library is way too big and I need more storage.  I have no desire to put all my photos in the big white cloud, so am not interested in buying apple's storage.  I ONLY HAVE 3000 photos anyway.   I then go to "choose options" and tick the Photo streaming and Photo sharing boxes, as I don't want to use the cloud.  When I upgraded to the new Yosemite just recently, I made sure to put all my iPhoto photos in albums so that when the new Photo took over, I would still have an organised system.  I am very happy with that.  I don't have a problem with Photo's managing my photos.  I think it's a great system and when I can import, edit, Facebook share, email and much more,  all from within Photos, I am not complaining.  Interestingly enough, I am having problems with iMessage as well, it takes years to sign in through iCloud, and then won't move on from the signing in box.  I can't even get out of it, only minimise it.  I do realise I may have some dud apple things happening which is not unheard of. 

  • by chrstinefromqld,

    chrstinefromqld chrstinefromqld May 9, 2015 9:26 PM in response to chrstinefromqld
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 9, 2015 9:26 PM in response to chrstinefromqld

    I've been thinking further, and I really think that the Photo app icon in system preferences/icloud has to be ticked.  This would then match my iPhone and iPad.  Of course, I could be totally wrong.  The problem is that it tells me my photo library is too large.  Where it shows my storage below it says that I have 5GB of iCloud storage and at present there is 3 something free.  Does anyone know more of what to do regarding the iPhoto library?  As I said earlier, I have the two folders in my pictures, and Photos is only using one of these to manage my photos.  I have no idea what the other is for although when I click on it, it tells me there is nothing in it.  I simply do not see how my meagre 3000 photos is too big for iCloud.  Unless, PHOTOS USING PHOTO LIBRARY 2 has a limit that is much less than this.  If this is the case, I would be able to click on that Photos app icon, CHOOSE NOT TO USE THE CLOUD TO STORE, BUT CHOOSE THE STREAM AND SHARE, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT I HAVE DONE ON MY OTHER DEVICES.  Thanks for reading!

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root May 10, 2015 1:55 PM in response to chrstinefromqld
    Level 9 (72,258 points)
    iTunes
    May 10, 2015 1:55 PM in response to chrstinefromqld

    You are welcome.

     

    Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Sharing limits

  • by chrstinefromqld,

    chrstinefromqld chrstinefromqld May 10, 2015 2:48 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 10, 2015 2:48 PM in response to Eric Root

    Thanks very much for suggesting that reading.  After reading it all, I can see that my amount of photos is not a problem.  But what I could see is the problem is that the Photos icon must be ticked in system preferences/icloud.  This is what I can not seem to do as it tells me I don't have enough storage, and I do not want to upgrade.  Not one person has been able to help me so far in telling me what will happen if I click Upgrade...I obviously am thinking that one pays for more storage.   So I've come to a wall here.  I would appreciate advice on what to do next.  Thanks.