Apple Macintosh Photos Application: Do others find this application unstable?

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Level 1

13 points

Apple Macintosh Photos Application: Do others find this application unstable?

I find that it crashes frequently, especially when I'm using the People function. When I first open the application and select "People" it will list the names I've enter but won't show images for everyone. If I then do anything it will cease to show any of the thumbnail images for the list of people. If I change anything, e.g., a name, I must quit the application and restart it for it to remember any changes. I've had issues with Photos since Apple first introduced it, but it seems worse now.

FYI: I have nearly 40K photos in my library.

MacBook Pro (2020 and later)

Posted on Jul 6, 2021 10:34 AM

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Answer 1

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TonyCollinet

Level 7

23,867 points

Jul 6, 2021 11:18 PM in response to PaulWith

Hi - 40K is not an excessive library size, and no, I find photos to be rock solid, apart from some known bugs, none of which result in random crashes.

to help with diagnosis - can you answer the following?

 What version of MacOS did you upgrade from?
Where is the library stored (System drive or external drive)? If external - what is the format of the drive?
Is the library on a network drive or in some sort of cloud storage (EG Dropbox or NAS)?
Do you use Icloud to sync photos?
If so, do you have optimise local storage set?
How do you backup your Mac?

It might be worth trying these initial checks:

1 - Create a new empty library and try with that library open (hold down the option key while starting photos, and click "create new". To switch back to your currently library afterwards, do the option key start again)

2 - Try booting in safe mode - does it still happen?

3 - Try creating a new user account and try when logged into that account.

These checks will tell us if the problem is system wide, or linked to a particular library or user account.

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Answer 2

PaulWith Author

Level 1

13 points

Jul 8, 2021 9:32 AM in response to TonyCollinet

Originally, the library started as an iPhotos library. It has since migrated through every version of MacOS 10 and now 11.4. It is currently on my internal drive (MacBook Pro 16" late 2020). I don't sync the library to iCloud. The drive is backed up to an external drive using Time Machine.

I tried step 1. When I switch back to the old library it seemed to be working as it should have been. Let's see if it continues to work correctly!

Thanks Tony,

Paul

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Answer 3

Jul 9, 2021 7:32 AM in response to PaulWith

Also, do you use any "Cleaning" apps like CleanMyMac?

There have been reports that they can hose libraries.

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Answer 4

PaulWith Author

Level 1

13 points

Jul 9, 2021 1:40 PM in response to Keith Barkley

Not "CleanMyMac" but Norton Internet Security has "Clean" which I occasionally run. Perhaps I'll not us it again.

Thanks Keith.

Cheers,

Paul

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Apple Macintosh Photos Application: Do others find this application unstable?

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