Using Smart Albums in Photo App - MBP to iPad to iPhone...

Hi,


A while back I created a smart album called 'Un-filed' in the Photos app, on my MBP (El Capitan 10.11.6) for a particular need...


I needed a way of seeing all the photos I captured with either my iPhone or iPad in one place and then later, being able to file them away to their relevant folders, but - still being able to see the images I didn't yet file away because they are my 'work in progress' images.


Before creating this smart album all my photos ended up in the default Photos/All photos album mixed up with every other image in my collections! That was my problem...

What I wanted to see was what I had photographed, but after filing them away, being able to see only the remaining un-filed images without them being mixed up with all my other photos in Photos/All photos.


Are you still with me?


Now, this works perfectly well when viewing/filing my images on my MBP as the smart Album named Un-filed, is my 'go to' album whenever I use the app.


But - this doesn't sync via iCloud to my devices!


If I am out with a client and I want to relate to a 'work in progress' image on one of my devices I have to sift through thousands of images in the Photos/All photos albums which is a real headache, instead of simply looking in my 'Un-filed' smart album and seeing the group of un-filed images.

(Some of my 'un-filed' work in progress images are months old before they are filed into an album as they are still 'work in progress').


So, my question is;

Is there another way that I haven't discovered yet, whereby I could be able to see the images in my 'Un-filed' smart album on my devices without sifting through the whole collection in Photos/All photos?


Many Thanks









Posted on Aug 5, 2019 9:10 PM

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5 replies

Aug 7, 2019 11:24 AM in response to EnEs63

But, deleting the photo doesn't work because it deletes the copy that I have filed away also.

You must not delete the photo but rjust emove it from the album. Organize photos in albums on iPhone - Apple Support

  • Remove a photo or video: In an album, tap a photo or video to view it in full screen. Tap 🗑, then choose to remove the item from just the album or delete it from iCloud Photos on all your devices.



It is really a nuisance, but smart albums are not supported on iOS devices at all. It defeats the purpose of having iCloud Photos sync the Photos Libraries across devices. Smart albums are syncing well between my macs. My solution is to use the iPhone and iPad only for viewing my photos, but I am doing all editing and organising on my Macs.



Aug 6, 2019 12:14 AM in response to EnEs63

An iPad or iPhone does not support smart albums.

I am always duplicating the smart albums as standard albums on my Mac.

  • Select all photos in the smart album (Work in Progress), then use the key combination ⌘N (File > New Album from Selection).

You will now have an album, that will sync with iCloud Photos Library to the iPhone or iPad and you can find your new, unfixed photos there. If you are finished with one of the photos in your Work in Progress album you can remove it from this album.


Aug 6, 2019 8:21 PM in response to léonie

Hi leonie,


Thank You for your advice.


I have tried this and created a new album (Un-Filed 2), from the selection in the Un-Filed smart album.

Yes, that sync's with my devices ok...


But, when I add a new photo from one of my devices it only shows up in the smart album - so I'm guessing I then need to move any new photos to the Un-Filed 2 album manually...?

I guess that would work... ?

Just a little longer workaround but I get to see my 'work in progress' photos sync'd across my devices.


I will try it for a while and see how I get on...

Thank You leonie, have a great day


Regards


Aug 6, 2019 8:42 PM in response to EnEs63

Hello again,


This isn't working too well...


After capturing photos from a device they are then arriving into the original smart album - Un-Filed. Then I manually moved them to the second standard album - Un-Filed 2.

Doing that removed them from the first smart album - which is fine.


But, when I view them in the second album then file them away, they don't disappear anymore. (It's not a 'smart' album, right?) So they remain in this second album...

As I need them to disappear after being filed, so that I don't end up with the work in progress photos being mixed up with loads of other images, I need to delete them manually...

But, deleting the photo doesn't work because it deletes the copy that I have filed away also.

The choice here, I guess is - once I have filed the image, the one left in the Un-Filed 2 album is 'removed from album', right?


I can't see any simpler way of achieving my goal here?


Mmm, this is all a bit more to get around...

I'll give it a try for a week or so and see how it goes.



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Using Smart Albums in Photo App - MBP to iPad to iPhone...

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