HT204655: Updating from iPhoto to Photos for OS X

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Q: Stop Photos from opening

Could someone at Apple please post how to stop Photos from opening every time I attach my iPhone. I never told it to do that, the iPhoto way doesn't work and nothing in your literature explains how.

Posted on May 16, 2015 4:47 AM

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Q: Stop Photos from opening

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  • by AntonLargiader,Solvedanswer

    AntonLargiader AntonLargiader May 16, 2015 5:04 AM in response to Inkling Books
    Level 1 (118 points)
    iPhone
    May 16, 2015 5:04 AM in response to Inkling Books

    Have you tried Photos -> Preferences -> uncheck "Copy items to the Photos Library" ?

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc May 16, 2015 5:06 AM in response to Inkling Books
    Level 6 (11,021 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 16, 2015 5:06 AM in response to Inkling Books

    Connect your device to the computer and select your device in Photos, then uncheck the box on the toolbar to Open Photos for that device.

  • by Inkling Books,

    Inkling Books Inkling Books May 16, 2015 5:22 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc
    Level 1 (10 points)
    May 16, 2015 5:22 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc

    Many thanks to both  of you for such a prompt reply. I suspect the second was the fix I was looking for, although I have done both just to be sure.

     

    Neither of Apples's items is that clear what it does. "Open Photos for this device" should be "Automatically Open Photos for this device." And keep in mind that option doesn't even appear until you select a device. It's the nasty little game of "we have a secret." Only if you know the secret of clicking one place will an option appear elsewhere. For games, that's OK. But software tools shouldn't act like that.

     

    This is oh-so typically Apple. With iPhoto this was set in Preferences. Why did they have no change it? One of the oldest principles in design is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." People at Apple must get their jollies sitting around in committees thinking up things to change.

     

    And still worse, why did I waste a half-hour looking for how to do this in Apple's documentation and come up blank? This was a change and should have been documented well. Instead, I saw a lot of gushing about iCloud for photos. Google was no help either. Every search I tried acted as if when I entered "Photos" I meant "iPhoto."

     

    Oh, well that hassle is at least over. Thanks again for your help.

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc May 16, 2015 5:33 AM in response to Inkling Books
    Level 6 (11,021 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 16, 2015 5:33 AM in response to Inkling Books

    The answer you marked correct has nothing to do with your problem. Unchecking to copy photos to your library will cause the photos to be stored in Referenced Files on the computer. That will also not work with the iCloud Photo Library if you decide to use it.

     

    The option will appear for each different device you use. You can also set this in image capture as you could in the past.

     

    Photos is new and there aren't many articles on it, but there will be in time.

    If you had the latest iPhoto 9.6.1, it still in your application folder. Use it if you are unhappy with Photos. Many people do.

  • by Inkling Books,

    Inkling Books Inkling Books May 16, 2015 6:19 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc
    Level 1 (10 points)
    May 16, 2015 6:19 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc

    Many thanks again Glenn. I've unchecked that other box, since that's not what I wanted. You're very helpful.

     

    Now for one of my pet gripes. Back in the eighties, I worked with technical documentation for Boeing and Microsoft. Later, in the early nineties I did the same thing for the maker of medical ultrasound equipment. I've put that behind me to write and publish books for the general population as Inkling Books.

     

    One role of a tech writer is to fix the communication blunders that software developers make. A clumsy but pretty UI often only shows up when someone has to sit down and describe it. Badly named options are obvious when a tech writer finds he has to explain what "Open Photos for this device" means. And in one case, with medical instrumentation, my 'how does this work' question turned up a serious flaw in how an instrument that urologists would be using worked, a flaw that could have put patients at risk.

     

    It's not that software developers and engineers are stupid. It's that communication isn't what they're trained for and often they're so close to a project, they can't see what's clear and what isn't. It's having to explain something to a mere user that exposes flaws.

     

    Unfortunately, and in no small part due to Apple, the mindset is now that software can be so user-friendly that it doesn't need extensive documentation. The detailed sorts of manuals that I once did are rarely being done today, particularly for consumer software. Instead, there's a far less extensive and rambling collection of web pages that may or may not serve a user's need. The result is often a messy product and one whose eccentricities aren't easy to work around.

     

    And yes, eventually third-parties do write that missing documentation. But because it isn't done in-house, it's often out-dated by the time its published. When I worked on documents for those companies, I wasn't just seeing what the software did. I was asking the developers who were creating it what it would do and hearing from them the limitations. That made for better documentation.

     

    This little incident and my gripes merely illustrates that.

     

    And quite frankly, as a tech writer who once did documentation for medical instruments, I'm bothered by the poor quality of some iOS apps that claim to provide information for physicians. Some are good, but others are so dreadful, they're dangerous.

     

    One was awful. I worked for over two years with children and teens who had leukemia, so I know that disease very well. It's the most common childhood cancer and yet, because all cancers in children are thankfully rare, it's not the first thing a pediatrician will think when a child presents with a typical symptom, a cold that doesn't go away. Any app that claims to be a guide to pediatricians should stress the usual presenting symptoms.

     

    One that Apple sells to pediatricians doesn't do that. It makes a big deal about children with leukemia being white and having radiation exposure. Both are risk factors, but they're meaningless in the real world. Most children in this country are white and so few children get radiation, that while it increase their risk, few who get leukemia will actually have a history of radiation treatment. That app looks like it was written by a poorly paid premed student who simply slapped together material from various manuals. It shows no understanding of the disease.

     

    But that's not the worst of this story. Frustrated that no one was giving a detailed review of this app's weaknesses, I've submitted two comments, citing my expertise. Neither was posted. Apple not only doesn't vet for accuracy and applicability these medical apps, it is hostile to detailed criticism of them. Last time I checked, the only posting about it were mere like or dislike spasms, as if this were a mere game.

     

    That's bad, bad, bad. The treatment available for the the most common variety of leukemia, ALL, is extremely effective, but it needs to be prompt. Delay can be deadly. That badly done app means delayed treatment.

     

    Does Apple care? I don't know. I don't think it even understands the problem. It'd rather posture about game apps that have a gun as an icon than ensure that apps intended for medical decision-making are written by competent people. And in comparison to that failing, my fussing about Photos autostarting is nothing.

     

    [Gets off soapbox. Picks up soapbox, and walks away, gesturing wildly in the air.]

     

    --Michael W. Perry, author of My Nights with Leukemia: Caring for Children with Cancer.

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc May 16, 2015 6:31 AM in response to Inkling Books
    Level 6 (11,021 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 16, 2015 6:31 AM in response to Inkling Books

    I'm sure Apple is writing their software to appeal to the majority and not to the minority, and of course also to meet their goal of their vision as to where they are taking their products. I can't imagine any company wanting to create software to run their customers away.

     

    Everyone who has a wish to have something changed or added to a product should let the company know. If enough people request change, they will probably act upon it.

    Apple doesn't monitor this discussion. So, please send feedback for your concerns and requests to them. We would all like to see this organized a bit better and get some of the iPhoto features missing put back into this app.

    https://www.apple.com/feedback/photos.html

  • by R C-R,

    R C-R R C-R May 16, 2015 6:32 AM in response to Inkling Books
    Level 6 (17,685 points)
    May 16, 2015 6:32 AM in response to Inkling Books

    Inkling Books wrote:

    Now for one of my pet gripes.

    Please note that this site is intended for user to user help & discussion of how to get the most out of Apple products. It is not for gripes or rants, or for commentary on Apple's policies.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN May 16, 2015 7:14 AM in response to AntonLargiader
    Level 10 (85,032 points)
    Photos for Mac
    May 16, 2015 7:14 AM in response to AntonLargiader

    AntonLargiader wrote:

     

    Have you tried Photos -> Preferences -> uncheck "Copy items to the Photos Library" ?

    That is a very bad idea and is strongly not recommended

     

    And it has NO effect on the users question - the answer to the question is while the Phone is connected to uncheck the box to open Photos when this device is connected

     

    LN

  • by AntonLargiader,

    AntonLargiader AntonLargiader May 16, 2015 8:34 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (118 points)
    iPhone
    May 16, 2015 8:34 AM in response to LarryHN

    The "Copy photos to the Photos library" option is described here:

     

    https://help.apple.com/photos/mac/1.0/?lang=en#/pht1ed9b966d

     

    It does not accomplish what you asked (but thanks for the points )

     

    Yes, undoing the "Photos" infection is a PITA.

  • by MtnBiker,

    MtnBiker MtnBiker Oct 3, 2015 7:01 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc
    Level 1 (82 points)
    Photography
    Oct 3, 2015 7:01 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc

    Thank you. "Connect your device to the computer and select your device in Photos, then uncheck the box on the toolbar to Open Photos for that device" worked.

     

    What was irritating is that I had to create a Photos Library to get to this point. Come on Apple. Give me an opt out. My first reaction was to open Preferences (old school).

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc Oct 5, 2015 1:08 PM in response to MtnBiker
    Level 6 (11,021 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 5, 2015 1:08 PM in response to MtnBiker

    As I said in my second post, you can also use Image Capture to set preferences for different devices and what applications they will open. You can set which application to open (or set to none) when a device is connected and also use it to download photos from a device to an application or to a folder. You didn't need to create a Photo's library to accomplish that.

  • by geo_head,

    geo_head geo_head Oct 10, 2015 11:48 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 10, 2015 11:48 AM in response to Glenn Leblanc

    Hi

     

    Lots of folks have explained the per device option for turning off Photos import.  I would like to know if there is a way to turn Photos import off for everything all the time.  If I reformat a CF card Photos 'loses' tracking and will automatically launch again.  I hate not having a choice in this matter.  I use Adobe Lightroom.  I was an Aperture user until Apple screwed me and everyone else that used Aperture.  I had originally used Lightroom and switched to Aperture.  I wish I never had taken that bait.

     

    I take a LOT of pictures and have several Canon DSLR cameras - I DO NOT LIKE PHOTOS in any way for anything and would delete it if I could.  I resent the fact that APPLE has forced me to very inconveniently have to connect every device and select the input option.  Image Capture USED TO ALLOW me to generically set all import such that it went to a program of my choosing.

     

    I understand that Photos is just what a lot of people want and that is great.  I consider it a cancerous infection of my life (not just my computer) and never want to see it again but Apple keeps ramming it down my throat. 

     

    Anybody know how to do this?  Command Line answers are fine but I suspect that El Capitan will be far more difficult to use these on.

     

    JM

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc Oct 10, 2015 12:48 PM in response to geo_head
    Level 6 (11,021 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 10, 2015 12:48 PM in response to geo_head

    There are no settings to turn off the behavior globally. For now, you have to do that for each device and each time you reformat a Card. There is probably a way to do it with a command line in terminal, but I don't know that.

     

    Send feedback to apple. Only when apple know what people want is when it will get changed.

  • by geo_head,

    geo_head geo_head Oct 10, 2015 12:50 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 10, 2015 12:50 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

    Thanks Glenn - I will send the feedback to Apple

     

    Jeff

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