I'd like to have the same photos & folders on my iPhone 6+ & iPad Air, but different from the photos & folders on my MacBook (OS X Yosemite), which is the computer I sync to. Right now, the photos & folders are different, & I don't want to lose the photos that I have on either device. How do I set up the folders & sync settings to do this?
Thanks in advance
MacBook Pro
Hi mbeck1,
Thanks for your question. Is it safe to assume you are using the same Apple ID for your iPhone 6, iPad Air and MacBook? If you have Photo Stream turned on, that is one way to keep everything synchronized between your devices.
If you are concerned about losing the photos that you currently have on the Camera Roll on your iPhone and iPad, I would suggest importing the pictures to your computer using iPhoto or Aperture so that you have a backup on your local hard drive.
Besides your Photo Stream, if you want to have a copy of specific pictures from your computer on your iOS devices, I would create one folder on your computer for your iOS pics, and sync only that folder.
The resources below will explain all of this in more detail.
iCloud: My Photo Stream overview
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13692
With My Photo Stream, the photos you take with your iOS devices or import to your computers appear automatically on all of your devices. It’s a great way to get all your latest shots on all your personal devices.
How it works
Take a photo with your iOS device, or import photos from your digital camera to your Mac, iPad, or Windows computer.
iCloud automatically pushes copies of the photos over any available Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection to your other devices.
The photos appear in My Photo Stream on these devices:
In iPhoto or Aperture on your Mac
Under iCloud Photos on your Apple TV
In the Pictures Library on your Windows computer
In the Photos app on your iOS 7 devices
The photos appear in Recently Added on these devices:
In the Photos app on your iOS 8 devices
To conserve storage space, My Photo Stream keeps only your latest 1000 photos on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. On your Mac and Windows computers, every picture from your photo stream can be automatically downloaded and kept permanently.
You can also set up your Mac and Windows computers so your new photos appear in a My Photo Stream album. Your computer has more storage than your iOS device and can automatically import all photos from My Photo Stream to your photo library.
If you take photos with burst mode or image stabilization on your iPhone 5s, only the photos you select as favorites when using burst mode and the final composite image shot with image stabilization are added to My Photo Stream. If you want all burst-mode photos uploaded to My Photo Stream and your iPhone has iOS 7.1 or later, go to Settings > Photos & Camera and turn on Upload Burst Photos.
Import photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your Mac or Windows PC - Apple Support
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201302
I hope this information helps you get your digital photos organized.
- Judy
Thanks for your help! I can't seem to keep it straight as to which way syncing goes - It's from the computer to the iPad/iPhone, right? I don't want to take any chances with my photos and accidentally delete any of them.
I was hoping that there would be a way to copy the photos and the folders they're in via syncing, but It sounds like that can't be done. I've gone ahead and done that manually so I have the same organization on both my iPhone and iPad.
Two questions:
1 - How do I set up photo streaming on iPhoto?
2 - I'd like to copy some of the photos from the MacBook to my iPhone/iPad, but not all. Is this where I should set up a special folder on the laptop to sync back to my iPhone/iPad?
Thanks again for your help. Once I get this set up properly it should save me a ton of time moving photos back and forth.
Hi mbeck1,
This article will explain how to set up Photo Stream on your computer and iOS devices:
iCloud: Set up My Photo Stream
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13693
iCloud: Set up My Photo Stream
Your new photos appear automatically on the iOS devices, computers, and Apple TV you set up with My Photo Stream, no matter which iOS device or computer you use to take or import new photos. For system requirements, see the Apple Support article System requirements for iCloud.
On an iOS 7 or iOS 8 device
Go to Settings, tap iCloud, tap Photos, then turn on My Photo Stream.
With My Photo Stream turned on, new photos taken with your iOS device are uploaded to iCloud when your device is set up with My Photo Stream and is connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi. The new photos appear automatically in Recently Added on your iOS 8 devices. They appear in My Photo Stream on your other devices, including your iOS 7 devices, Mac and Windows computers, and your Apple TV.
On a Mac to work with iPhoto or Aperture
For instructions, see one of these iPhoto Help or Aperture Help topics:
On Apple TV
Go to Settings > iCloud.
Select Sign In, press the center button on your remote, then follow the onscreen instructions to enter the Apple ID and password you use with iCloud.
Select iCloud Photo Settings, press the center button on your remote, select Turn On My Photo Stream, then press the center button on your remote again.
On a Windows computer
Install iCloud for Windows if it isn’t already installed on your computer.
Open iCloud for Windows, then turn on Photos.
My Photo Stream is set up by default. To turn it off, click Options, then turn off My Photo Stream.
To change the iCloud Photos location on your computer, click Options. Click Change to choose a folder, then click OK.
Click Apply.
Last Modified: Nov 3, 2014
"Syncing" generally refers to information being copied from the computer to the iPhone or iPad.
To copy specific pictures from your MacBook to your iPhone or iPad, you can create a folder on your Desktop or in the Pictures folder and follow the directions in the article I mentioned earlier:
iTunes 12 for Mac: Add photos to iPod, iPhone, or iPad
If you have an iPod with a color display, an iPhone, or an iPad, you can add digital photos to it using iTunes.
You can connect iPhone, iPad, and some iPod models to a TV to view photos.
Note: If you use iCloud Photo Library to share your photos, you can’t sync your photos using iTunes.Add photos to your iPod, iPhone, or iPad
Connect your device to your computer.
Click the device button, then click Photos.
Select “Sync photos from” and choose an album or folder from the pop-up menu.
If you’re using Photos (OS X Yosemite v10.10 or later), iPhoto, or Aperture, you can export photos directly from those apps to your device by choosing the app from the pop-up menu.
Choose whether to move all your photos, albums, events, and faces, or only selections.
If you’re syncing photos from iPhoto 8.1 or later, or Aperture 3.0.1 or later, you can sync using Faces and Events. Some earlier versions of iPhoto also support Events.
To sync videos from iPhoto 6.0.6 or later, select “Include videos.”
To also move the full-resolution versions of these photos to your iPod, select “Include full-resolution photos.” This option is available on iPod classic and iPod nano only.
Note: To move the photos from your iPod to another computer, select this option, and also select “Enable disk use” in the Summary pane. For more information, see Use iPod as an external hard drive.Click Apply.
If it’s the first time you’re adding photos to your iPod, iPhone, or iPad, it might take a while, but subsequent syncs should be faster.
Videos captured with iPod nano (5th generation), iPhone 3GS or later, or iPod touch (4th generation or later) are also synced to iPhoto.
For more information about using your iPod, iPhone, or iPad to view photos, see the documentation that came with your device.
Last Modified: Jan 6, 2015
Good luck!
- Judy
Sync photos on iPhone & iPad but not on MacBook
