No Photo Folders on iPhone SE 2020 with sync from Mac Late2008

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Martinzi Author

Level 1

8 points

No Photo Folders on iPhone SE 2020 with sync from Mac Late2008

Dear community,

my hardware is:

MacBook Late 2008 (Yes, it is running since 4533 days)

iPhone SE 2020

my problem is:

On my Macbook i have all my photos nicely organized in folders, like 2008, 2009, 2010, etc.

In those folders there are albums of events, like holiday, wedding, birthday.

On the iPhone i have all the albums now (after sync), but not sorted by the folders. So, i finally bought an iPhone with enough space to sync all the photos, but everytime i want to look at a certain picture, i have to scroll and scroll and scroll until i find the album, because all the albums are now in the "On my mac" (german: Von meinem Mac).

The photos app is version 1.5 and the os x has el capitan. Yes, this is old, but it was the last update.

What i want to know is:

is there a way to organize the photos by the folders i have on my mac?
is this different with a new mac?

Thank you very much

Martin

iPhone SE, iOS 13

Posted on Jun 23, 2020 8:17 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Demo

Level 10

166,525 points

Jun 23, 2020 8:42 AM in response to Martinzi

If I understand you correctly, you are trying to sync folders with a subset of other folders or albums within those folders titled 2008, 2009, etc.

You can only sync one subset of folders within the main syncing folder from which you sync photos. In your case, when you sync photos, you choose iPhoto as the main syncing folder from the Copy Photos from drop down menu. Then you can select the sub folders that you want to sync which would be the ones titled, 2008, 2009, etc. Even though you have more organization within those folders titled 2008, 2009, etc., those titles and the subset album structure will not be maintained syncing them to the phone.

In short, while all the photos will sync, you can only maintain the folder structure for one subset of folders. You are trying to sync two subsets of folders and that won’t work.

If I didn’t understand you correctly, post back and correct me please.

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Answer 2

Martinzi Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 23, 2020 10:21 AM in response to Demo

Hello and thanks for your reply.

On my mac i use the Photos App and in there i have folders like 2009. In the folder i have an album for e.g. Christmas, Birthday, Wedding. On my phone it only displays Christas, Birthday, Wedding without the folder before.

I thought i have all my folders on the iPhone then to look for 2009, enter, and then search for Birthday.

But, i have no folders on the iphone, so all the albums in the photos app on the phone are organized by alphabet.

This is in the Photos App on my mac

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Answer 3

LACAllen

Level 8

43,440 points

Jun 23, 2020 10:49 AM in response to Martinzi

Martinzi wrote:

My folders are containing albums, as you can see. I don't really understand your answer. What do i need to do?

Then I have no other ideas to offer.

I can nest folder and they won't accept or show photos until I place an album, Then in iOS I see the folder structure and can drill down to the album to see photos.

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Answer 4

Martinzi Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 23, 2020 10:55 AM in response to LACAllen

This means it works with your photos 3.0 and your iphone. I have photos 1.5 and i'm thinking about patching the old mac to catalina just to make them pictures to work with folders. Right now it's near to useless when you have 1000 albums to scroll through.

Thanks LACAllen

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Answer 5

LACAllen

Level 8

43,440 points

Jun 23, 2020 11:00 AM in response to Martinzi

That's why I offered my version number.

Here is what I see in iOS for my folder test.

Foldertest and subfolder test are folders. Each contain an album.

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Answer 6

LACAllen

Level 8

43,440 points

Jun 23, 2020 9:01 AM in response to Martinzi

Reality is, Apple's Photos apps don't "speak" folder. They use a camera roll/all photos album to store all photos and you use Albums/tags to organize them.

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