HT204570: Get help with your iCloud Photo Library

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britomart
Level 1 (6 points)

Q: Syncing problems with Photos app on iPhone, Photos on Mac, and iCloud

I am facing particular problems with the Photos app on my iPhone, but with issues appearing on my Mac as well.

I have my iPhone set to optimize space and my Mac set to download full-resolution versions of all images. I have a very large library (close to 150K images), and I've bought sufficient iCloud space to store it all.

Here are the symptoms I'm facing:

  • My iPhone seems confused about what photos exist, what things it needs to download, and what it needs to upload. On the Photos tab at the very bottom, text indicates how many photos and videos, as well as what might be uploading or download. These numbers shift all the time, seemingly at random. For instance, I watched the number of Photos in the library count down to zero, and the app briefly flashed a notice that I could take pictures with the phone. Then it started counting up again. Also, in the smaller text, it sometimes claims it has a great number of items to upload (close to the full number of images in my library). This number will gradually count down, but with it gets close to zero, the app crashes.
  • On my iPhone, I usually see most of the images in my library, but sometimes they are missing, or the thumbnails are replaced with plain black images. Sometimes, it doesn't know I have those images at all.
  • Sometimes the text  on the iPhone says it is "preparing" a number of photos. This number, too, will count down, but the app usually crashes when it gets very low.
  • Sometimes, the Photos app on the iPhone crashes unpredictably.
  • On my Mac, I get daily notifications about my Photos Stream limit being reached. I have read the article about the limits, but having had the Photos app up and running with iCloud for several months now, this should not be an issue. Besides, all images do seem to appear on my Mac, in iCloud, and (at least sometimes; see above) on my iPhone.

Another problem that may or may not be related: Using my iPhone's camera to take videos, the Camera app almost always crashes after about a minute. I don't know if this because of the Camera app or has something to do with syncing through iCloud. Thought I'd mention it here.

I will update this if I identify more symptoms.

Posted on Jun 16, 2015 5:04 AM

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britomart

Q: Syncing problems with Photos app on iPhone, Photos on Mac, and iCloud

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  • by billy_blue,

    billy_blue billy_blue Jun 17, 2015 4:39 AM in response to britomart
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 17, 2015 4:39 AM in response to britomart

    Same here.

     

    Using the photos app on MacBook Pro late 2013 model, two iPhones 5S and the iPad Air. I also have a library of 160GB. On one iPhone it says that there are still 13 pictures left to upload, but nothing happens (message is there for 5 days now), though all pictures are uploaded and show fine on theo ther devices.

     

    Also on the two iPhones it says 36714 pictures, 334 Video, 1 object

     

    What is it about with the "object"? No mentioning of the "object" in photos on the MacBook Pro.

  • by britomart,

    britomart britomart Oct 3, 2015 5:44 AM in response to britomart
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Oct 3, 2015 5:44 AM in response to britomart

    Syncing problems persist for me with photos across all manifestations of Photos: my iPhone, my iMac, and the iCloud web site. It's true I have a huge photo .ibrary, but as I'm paying for plenty of space, I'd like this to work better.  Most recent issues:

     

    • My iMac tells me nearly every day that I've reached my upload limit; this has been going on for months.
    • My iPhone's library seems to be constantly in a state of refreshing itself. The total number of photos fluctuates between all and almost none. It usually includes "1 Item," whatever that is.
    • Worst of all, when I take pictures on my iPhone, there's no reliable way to predict when those pictures will be synced to other devices … the main selling point of iCloud!
    • on my phone, the camera app can be very slow to start. Then, when trying to review to photo in the Photos app, it can take several minutes till the pictures open, and even longer till they're editable. Sharing can take many minutes.

     

    THis is is admittedly very frustrating. I'm paying quite a bit for iCloud space, plus of course for the devices. I like the ideal tremendously, but the reality is consistently disappointing.  I have no idea how to resolve these issues, nor how to investigate more closely.

  • by britomart,

    britomart britomart Oct 15, 2015 3:45 PM in response to britomart
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Oct 15, 2015 3:45 PM in response to britomart

    All these problems continue.

     

    I was briefly hopeful that things worked better after having upgraded to a new phone. For about a week, the iPhone Photos app worked reliably, although not all the photos had downloaded. Now all the symptoms described in my earlier posts are back, including the very frustrating fact that after having take a new photo, it can be minutes or more before it appears in my iPhone Photos library, and many hours before it appears in the library on my iMac.

     

    Also of note: the number one app using my iPhone's battery is Photos, with Background Activity written in small print below it. At present, it's showing 62% for the last 24 hours, and 47% for the last 7 days. And it's always quite high! This does indeed mean my new iPhone's battery drains very quickly during the day, as well as suggesting something—but what I can't begin to guess—is wrong with the library, the Photos app, iCloud syncing, or ... something! I've been paying for significant extra iCloud storage to accommodate my large library, but I still question whether it's worth it when the devices and intended functionality don't work at all reliably.

  • by preludio,

    preludio preludio Oct 19, 2015 7:01 AM in response to britomart
    Level 2 (260 points)
    Oct 19, 2015 7:01 AM in response to britomart

    I'm sorry I can't offer anything more than letting you know that you're not alone! I don't have the problem of Photos on my Mac trying to upload continuously, but I have the other problems. Photos sometimes take days to appear on my Mac, sometimes seconds. I can find no pattern to the behavior. At least with Photo Stream I knew it would reliably take several hours!

     

    Also, many photos on my iPhone (5S) are marked with an exclamation point. No idea what that means (I've searched and searched and still can't find an answer). Tapping on the exclamation point does nothing. Sometimes tapping on the photo to edit it will load a high-res version. But when I stop editing, I get the low-res exclamation point thing again. Urg.