iPhoto Photos Alternatives Help

Question

Level 1

4 points

iPhoto Photos Alternatives Help

Hi,

I’ve been using iPhotos since buying my iMac in 2011. Although I was never really that happy with the way the app organizes my pics I’ve become used to it. (I would have actually preferred a Windows folder type system over Events – I realize I could have done that by creating Albums but I didn’t do that from the start and now I have tons of Events) I continued to use iPhotos even after Photos was released because I thought the organization features in Photos were not even as good as iPhotos. Now, realizing that some day I won’t be able to use the old iPhoto app anymore, I’ve been looking into alternatives to Photos.

Below is what’s important to me in preferred order

1) I need an app that would allow me to continue to show my photos (from my library on an external hard drive) on my television via Apple TV …

2) I would like a folder type organization system that would be searchable while looking at my pics on my television.

3) I would like to be able to do some basic photo editing, nothing too complicated. Basic photo editing, such as what’s available in iPhoto would be fine.

If I have to upgrade to a newer model Apple TV I will.

If anyone has suggestions to point me in the right direction I’d really appreciate it!

Thanks

Kevin

iMac mid 2011

Sierra 10.12.6

iPhoto 9.6.1

Apple TV - 3rdGeneration – Model#1469 – Software version 7.5

I do not use iCloud for photo storage. I have all of my pics and vids on an external hard drive.

Posted on Apr 27, 2020 7:51 AM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

210,615 points

Apr 27, 2020 10:47 AM in response to Kevin1338

When you migrate your iPhoto library try Photos all of the Events are converted to albums and will be located in a sidebar folder titled (drum roll please…) iPhoto Events.

Here are some user tips from Photos for Mac User Tips that will help you in your transition from iPhoto to Photos:

Notes on Migrating an iPhoto Library from iPhoto to Photos for Mac - read first if you haven't already upgraded to Catalina

External Editors in Photos Are Here

to Editing Extensions for Photos for Mac

Post 9/30/2018 Printing Options for Photos - Apple Community

Ordering Books and Calendars on a Mac that cannot be updated past El Capitan

Use Project Extensions to order print products in Photos after September 30, 2018 - Apple Support

Create and order print products in Photos with Project Extensions - Apple Support

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

197,321 points

Apr 29, 2020 7:00 AM in response to Kevin1338

In Photos you can organise your albums in nested folders. Folders can hold subfolders or albums. You cannot nest albums. You build a treelike structure with folders and the leaves of the tree will be the albums.

The folders with the albums can be easily accessed from the sidebar in Photos, for example, here is a part of the sidebar in my Photos Library with my travel photos.

You can search for photos by the filename, by keywords, titles, albums, by the objects in the photos, and many more. You can use smart albums like in iPhoto or filter the albums by different criteria, for example show only edited photos or photos with certain keywords or the favourites.

I hope others can answer the question about viewing the photos on the TV.

I would try out photos with a small test library. Hold down the options key ⌥ while launching the Photos.app. Keep holding down ⌥ until your are seeing the library chooser dialog and select to create a new library. Then import a few photos to get started. See Create additional photo libraries in Photos on Mac - Apple Support

This may help to set up the first library:

New to Photos? Some Considerations on How to Design your First Photos Library in Photos 5.0

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Answer 3

Apr 27, 2020 8:23 AM in response to Kevin1338

Photos has you covered with the Apple TV:

Apple TV Photos app at a glance - Apple Support

I think you should give Photos a chance, its editing is much better than iPhotos ever was.

Since none of your images are in folders now, I don't see how any folders based app can help you.

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Answer 4

Kevin1338 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 29, 2020 5:43 AM in response to Old Toad

Thanks for the responses. It looks like Photos is the only suggestion/option for now.

Re: The albums/iPhoto Events that will be created at migration:

1) Will I be able to create sub-albums (kinda like a folder system)?

2) I assume there will be a search feature while using Photos on my iMac but will there also be a search feature while viewing them on my television? (All pics and vids are stored and accessed from a local external hard drive.)

3) Is there a way I could “test” Photos before jumping in with a full migration? Perhaps by manually creating a couple of albums without the possibility of losing my pics?

90% of my iPhoto usage is viewing pics and videos on my television with family members. It is MOST IMPORTANT to me that whatever direction I choose to go after iPhoto gives me at least the same features for television viewing.

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Answer 5

Kevin1338 Author

Level 1

4 points

May 11, 2020 5:53 AM in response to léonie

Sorry my reply is a little late but ...

leonie,

Thanks for the info and screen shot. This is exactly what I'd want in a photo file system and I'd be ready to go "all in" on Photos if I were certain that Search feature was available while viewing pictures on my television ...... even if it were only available in a separate phone app.

I haven't had time to work on this yet but I plan on creating a small test library as suggested. This way I could see and play around with the file system and actually see first hand how it works with Apple TV. When I get it done I'll post my results.

Thanks again,

Kevin

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Answer 6

May 11, 2020 7:23 AM in response to léonie

Or you can ask on the AppleTV board:

https://discussions.apple.com/community/appletv

8^)

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Answer 7

Yer_Man

Level 10

163,872 points

Apr 29, 2020 6:57 AM in response to Kevin1338

Adobe's Lightroom will do exactly what you want. It has an iOS version that runs on AppleTV.

https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom.html

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Answer 8

Kevin1338 Author

Level 1

4 points

May 11, 2020 5:56 AM in response to Yer_Man

TD - Thanks for your suggestion. I did take a look at Lightrooom. It looks like a really great app but at this time I don't think I'm ready to take on another monthly payment. : )

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