DCIM folder structure

Apple did not design the folder structure for your convenience, they structured it for the most efficient management of the photo database in the phone, because they don’t expect users to ever even look at it. Instead they provide several easy ways to transfer photos from the phone to a computer or other services. These ways are described here→Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support.

By far the easiest way is to enable iCloud Photos: Go to Settings/[your name]/icloud - Photos ON. This will transfer the existing photos to your iCloud account, then going forward in real time as they are taken meaning that you will never lose a photo should disaster strike. Once in iCloud you have options:

• Log in to https://icloud.com/photos, where you can view them or download them to your computer
• Enable iCloud Photos in your Mac System Preferences, and they will automatically sync to the Photos app on your Mac
• Install iCloud for Windows, where you can view your photos on your PC and optionally transfer them to local storage on your computer.

Enabling iCloud photos also offers the option of saving smaller, lower resolution images on your phone to save space while still preserving the full resolution photos in iCloud. Just go to Settings/Photos - Optimize iPhone Storage to enable this feature.

Probably not, since Apple did not intend for you to access the DCIM folder directly, but rather to import your pictures to your computer using a specific app (like Photos or Preview on a Mac, or Windows Photos on Windows PCs).

epto wrote:

but why did it change with ISO 14.6 as YEAR__MONTH and why did it change again?

Because they don’t want or expect users to access it at all, except as described in the link I posted earlier. It is an internal data structure that they didn’t block users from seeing (although perhaps they should have).

There is literally nothing easier than accessing the folder directly. Anything other than that makes things more complicated. I really hate the iPhone file structure. I shouldn't have to upload something to iCloud and then download it to my phone when I could simply plug a cable into my computer and transfer the file to the directory I want. I want to transfer a photo from my computer to my iphones DCIM folder by connecting a USB cable. But of course I can't do something that simple and easy with an iphone. I really don't care for the way Apple locks up the iphone and makes people do things their way. Blah Blah Blah security, Blah Blah Blah easier. Nonsese.

You may have your process perfected, but for others its very unintuitive. For example what I had to do:

1. go to iCloud and select the photos I want (is this even an option if you don't pay for iCloud storage?)
2. download the photos
3. go to the downloads folder
4. unzip the folder
5. select the photos again and finally copy them to my desired location

VS

1. plug in phone
2. easily find the photo IF folders are sorted by year_month
3. copy and paste into desired location

I have to upload them to the company server in different locations based on which client I was working with. And I would say it is safe to assume most people are familiar with the operation I listed by downloading the photos vs using the procedure you stated. Which I just tried and I see no File/Export on the iCloud site, so I assume that would require me to download another app which is annoying since I have to get IT approval to download programs on my computer.

OR I COULD JUST CONNECT MY PHONE AND DOWNLOAD IMAGES DIRECTLY (if the file structure was fixed)

JoeBobJones1 wrote:

There is literally nothing easier than accessing the folder directly.

Utter nonsense. I use iCloud exclusively. Every photo I take appears on my computer, my iPad, and at iCloud.com seconds after I take it, with no intervention on my part. And, as I also have the Google Photos app and the Dropbox app they also are backed up to those sites seconds after being taken. There is no easier way to get photos off an iOS device, and no safer way, as I can’t possibly lose a single photo if my phone breaks, is stolen, or falls in a toilet.

That is LITERALLY much easier than connecting a cable, opening a file browser, find the files I want and manually downloading them. And has the advantage that if I can’t get to the computer for a while my photos are all safe.

No, I don’t download anything. The photos are just there on my computer, without any intervention. In the Photos app on a Mac, or iCloud for Windows on my computer. If I want them in separate folders (I can’t think of any good reason to do that), I just select them in the Photos app (or iCloud for Windows), chose File/Export, and specify the location where I want them.

I just spent a week hiking in Utah without a computer. I took several hundred photos. All of them were there on my computer when I got home, with no risk of losing them if I dropped my phone in a canyon or the river I was fording.

EXACTLY. This was such a great thing especially for those of us using the phone to take pictures for work . Apple, PLEASE bring this back!!!