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Syncing MacBook with iOS devices post Catalina

Since upgrading my MacBook to Catalina, I am unable to sync my photos either to my iPads or iPhone.


I keep all my photos in a folders/ albums on my desktop, subdivided into various sub-files, and I only transfer to "PHOTOS" those folders/ albums which I require to appear (vis syncing) on my IOS devices


Since Catalina, I find my photo syncing has gone haywire.


When I sync via FINDER, the following situations arise


The titles of some albums are not appearing in the Photo sync option despite having been tranferred into "PHOTOS"

Others are appearing in the list to sync, but despite being selected, they fail to do so

One album has synced, but only some of the photos appear therein on my IOS devices


I've spent hours trying to resolve this, but am totally frustrated! Can anyone assist please


MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 5, 2019 8:50 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 15, 2019 9:42 PM

This is not a helpful reply to me.


  1. I have 35000 + photos iCloud is not an option. They just don't fit on any of my devices.
  2. There's obviously an issue somewhere with the finder sync to IOS13 devices.


My observation (and that of others who have posted about this)

  1. Selecting "all photos and albums" works but I just run out of space on my iPad and I don't all anyway
  2. "selected albums" works also BUT only for albums that have no sub-folders, the sub folder when selected DONOT sync (they do when using the "all" function but NOT when using the "selected" function


This has been the case for over a month now. Please talk to someone in apple to fix. I know apple wants us to use the cloud but that's not always the right answer for all

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 15, 2019 9:42 PM in response to sterling r

This is not a helpful reply to me.


  1. I have 35000 + photos iCloud is not an option. They just don't fit on any of my devices.
  2. There's obviously an issue somewhere with the finder sync to IOS13 devices.


My observation (and that of others who have posted about this)

  1. Selecting "all photos and albums" works but I just run out of space on my iPad and I don't all anyway
  2. "selected albums" works also BUT only for albums that have no sub-folders, the sub folder when selected DONOT sync (they do when using the "all" function but NOT when using the "selected" function


This has been the case for over a month now. Please talk to someone in apple to fix. I know apple wants us to use the cloud but that's not always the right answer for all

Nov 9, 2019 2:43 PM in response to Rwd1

Hey there Rwd1,


Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. I understand you’re having issues syncing photos over to your iPad and iPhone after upgrading to macOS Catalina. I’ll be happy to help.


Do you use iCloud at all? This allows you to keep all your photos up to date across your devices. If you’re interested, you can read more about this here:


Set up and use iCloud Photos


If you don’t want to use iCloud Photos, make sure your iPad, iPhone, and Mac are completely up to date. You can review these links for help doing this:


How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

How to update the software on your Mac


Once you’ve done that, try syncing your photos over again. If you continue to have issues, boot into safe mode and try there:


Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac


If you continue to have issues, you can reach out to Apple Support so they can continue to look into this with you:


Contact Apple Support 


Cheers.

Syncing MacBook with iOS devices post Catalina

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