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User profile for user: toodamnninja
toodamnninja Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

iTunes no longer ordering iPhone photos by name

In order to upgrade from iOS5 to 6 i had to go from iTunes 10.6.2 to 10.7; since doing so first of all only half of my photos would sync at all (1,898 out of 4,7xx) and finally (after removing all of my music) it transferred them all only to re-sort them all by date instead of name...

Is this a bug or a 'feature'? (I seem to remember iTunes 10.6.3 introduced a similar bug, despite claiming in the release notes that it was fixing one)

If it is the latter then it is a rather annoying one, and i wish to know how to return to sorting by name.

If you're going to change something as major as the way all photos are ordered, then why not provide an option for it? One dropdown box in settings? a toggle? anything!

Instead of being able to group similar photos with a naming convention, my photos are now being ordered effectively at random. (and there is no way i'm going to through nearly five thousand photos and mess around with the date data just so i can fix what Apple have broken.)


So does anyone know how to fix it back to name sorting? I can't downgrade iTunes as it won't recongise my library file now that it's been modified by a newer version... I'm not using iPhoto to sync (or at all for that matter), just choosing a folder within the sync options in iTunes, so it isn't that messing with it...

I've tried unsyncing and resyncing photos, i've tried removing and rebuilding the 'ipod photo cache' (i had to do this a number of times just to get them to sync in the first place) and nothing is working.


Oh, and yes i have seen the Apple support article "iOS: Understanding photo sorting" (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4221) and it is incorrect. It claims that under iOS4 and upwards photos are sorted by date, which is simply not true.

My iPhone photos were sorted by name for the whole time i had iOS5, and either iOS6 or iTunes 10.7 has changed this.


For reference, I'm using a blacbook running Snow Leopard, iTunes 10.7 (now) and an iPhone 4 running iOS6 (now).

iPhone 4, iOS 6

Posted on Sep 24, 2012 10:39 PM

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27 replies
User profile for user: version2
version2
User level: Level 1
4 points

Sep 26, 2012 10:17 PM in response to toodamnninja

It's the newer version of iTunes. I upgraded iTunes before I got the new iOs update, and it jumbled my photos my date created. I didn't want it this way, so I downgraded back to my older version of iTunes. Then unfortunately, I upgraded to iOs6, not realizing that I would then have to re-upgrade my iTunes to sync photos, and having done that, lost my sort by name order which I really need back on my phone. It's so frustrating and I wish that Apple would fix this. Otherwise, my next phone will not be an iPhone.

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User profile for user: James Johnson14
James Johnson14
User level: Level 1
32 points

Sep 27, 2012 8:12 AM in response to toodamnninja

Add me to the list with this problem.


With the latest iOS6 and iPhoto for 10.7, today, I noticed that I lost my photo sort order on my iPhone 4s.

In iPhoto, I have all of my photos in descending order.


I have removed all of the photos on my iPhone, rebooted, and synced several times without a change.


Just to see what would happen, I synced my iPhone with iTunes on my work iMac. I had the same result of ascending order despite having them all marked descending.

With 1000s of photos, having the wrong order is frustrating.

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User profile for user: toodamnninja
toodamnninja Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

Sep 28, 2012 2:23 AM in response to toodamnninja

UPDATE: after spending 45mins with an Apple store genius today i can confirm that it is definitely iTunes causing the problem. After nothing he tried was making any difference, he went and fetched a brand new iPhone still running vanilla iOS5 with my iTunes and same thing happened.


So that and version2's experience confirms it. iTunes 10.6.2 = name sorting for synced photos, 10.7 = date but with occasional mistakes...

Now the question is; is that deliberate (and we're stuck with it) or a bug (might be fixed if and when someone feels like it)?


Have had my issue 'escalated' so let's see if anything happens...

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User profile for user: b noir
b noir
User level: Level 9
72,324 points

Oct 1, 2012 4:53 PM in response to toodamnninja

Do matters improve if you update to iPhoto 9.4.1?


iPhoto 9.4.1


From the release notes for the new version:


What's New in Version 9.4.1

  • Improves the reliability of syncing to iOS devices via iTunes
  • Fixes an issue that could cause iPhoto to quit unexpectedly when using the Export command
  • Addresses an issue that could cause iPhoto to quit unexpectedly when upgrading multiple books, cards, and calendars
  • Resolves an issue with downloading and viewing photos synced from Facebook albums
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User profile for user: gerardlu
gerardlu
User level: Level 1
4 points

Oct 3, 2012 2:05 PM in response to chrmnxpnoy

I discovered a funny thing:


Indeed I changed the "Date taken" of one picture I wanted to be the first in a folder (to be visible as Icon).


I changed the "date taken" to a date earlier than every other picture in the folder.


I synced my iphone with itunes...the order didn't change on my iphone..


I waited approx 5 minutes with itunes running ( just running, nothing else)


I synced again......and yes the picture was now on the first place.....


Possible explanation: itunes copied the picture during the first sync into the "Cache", but there's a background process analysing the "date taken" of the picture and putting it in the correct order afterwards....5 minutes later. After 5 minutes itunes "reordered" the pictures and the "new" order is synced during the 2nd synchronisation.


I hoped you understand what I mean .... 😉


Kind regards


gerardlu

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User profile for user: FlexMC
FlexMC
User level: Level 1
4 points

Oct 24, 2012 4:07 PM in response to toodamnninja

I'm telling you that this upgrade to iTunes 10 is sheer and utter BS!!
I am having the same issue with my photos being reordered according to date taken on. The whole point of me renaming them was to re-order them and this new iTunes completely messed this up. I am getting sick of this.


I wonder if there will be a fix for this.

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User profile for user: roger43
roger43
User level: Level 1
0 points

Oct 25, 2012 9:19 AM in response to toodamnninja

I manage photos on both a PC and a Mac using folders for the photos and ITunes (10.7.0.21) to synch to my IPad (IOS 5.1.1) and my wifes iPad (IOS 5.1.1). In this process, I have suffered through Apple photo sort changes by date taken, file name, and now, under iTunes 10.7.0.21 something weird. I have been twice to the Genius Bar with no success. Here is a test that I ran with PC Windows 7, iTunes (10.7.0.21) and my iPad (IOS 5.1.1).


I created a Test 1 Folder with five photos. Here is a simplification of the test folder. The File Name and Date Taken were set so that they would sort in reverse order. Note File E has the earliest Date Taken and File A has the latest date taken. I am using simple integers instead of dates here for simpliciity. The Display Order shows the photo order as seen on my iPad. This order reflects an ascending Date Taken order. This is a change that was introduced with iTunes 10.7.0.21).


File Name Date Taken Display Order

A 5 5

B 4 4

C 3 3

D 2 2

E 1 1


Now, I created a new test folder and then copied the contents from the above folder using the following copy sequence: C, D, B, A, E. I then used iTunes to synch this new folder to my iPad. I was surprised to see the Display Order exactly reflect the copy order I had used. In other words, the iTunes & iPad combo now did not use Date Taken as the sort order for this new folder.


Then, I did another synch and found that the Display Order was now by Date Taken. Yikes!!!


This inconsitent behaviour is a BUG. Apple needs to fix the iTunes & IOS software to deliver consistent IOS display order under all circumstances of file addition, deletion, etc to a folder. It would be better if they offerred sort options under IOS but I would still be wildly happy if Apple would fix the current bugs and then stick with the sort order instead of changing it.


roger43

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User profile for user: toodamnninja
toodamnninja Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

Nov 14, 2012 4:54 PM in response to J6S

in my experience (and as stated in the OP), iTunes 10.6.2 orders synced photos by name, and groups photos in subfolders together; 10.6.3 and 10.7 sync almost by date (with some randomly out of order) and does not group those photos in subfolders.


Not sure about 10.6.3.25 specifically, as i gave up on 10.6.3 and rolled back to 10.6.2 until iOS6 forced an upgrade to 10.7 😟

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User profile for user: James Avestruz
James Avestruz
User level: Level 1
0 points

Nov 23, 2012 3:31 AM in response to roger43

I am glad someone else has tried such intricate and time consuming experiments to figure out exactly what is going wrong. I find this new bug (hopefully not a new feature) completely unacceptable, as it has scrambled every single photo I sync. As an event photographer who uses an iPad for a great majority of my dealings, I am very very worried that this won't be fixed before the holiday season.


I really really want Apple to either fix this and return to ABC order, or better still, offer OPTIONS somewhere! Why is there no response from them to this!?

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User profile for user: Brian Pratt
Brian Pratt
User level: Level 1
15 points

Nov 23, 2012 10:23 AM in response to James Avestruz

James Avestruz wrote:


I really really want Apple to either fix this and return to ABC order, or better still, offer OPTIONS somewhere! Why is there no response from them to this!?


ATTENTION EVERYBODY!!!


Apple rarely posts on these forums and probably can't keep up with reading all of them. The way to get things fixed is to report the problem directly to Apple:


From the "iPhoto" menu (when iPhoto is running), select "Provide iPhoto Feedback". This will take you to a web page where you can report the bug. The more people that report the issue, the higher priority the fix gets!


Here's a direct link to the feedback webpage for iPhoto: http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphoto.html


And in case it is an iOS problem, you can use one of these pages:


http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html


http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html



I've reported this issue on all three just in case.

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iTunes no longer ordering iPhone photos by name

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