In the New Photos, why can't I split and merge events?

They dropped it because the world changed, I suspect. iPhoto was a key element of what Apple called the Digital Hub strategy - your Mac was the centre and other devices were fed from it. Now, the Cloud is rapidly becoming the centre. Now there are many people who have devices (Phones, Tablets) who rarely use or maybe don't even own a desktop. Also the volumes of photographs taken has increased exponentially.

So, one of the consequences of the volume of photos is an increasing demand for automation. Folks want to shoot and look at their pics, but don't want to spend time organising and editing. Result: filters for editing and automatic organisation like Moments. (BTW, Apple are not alone in this. The new photo service from Google is similar.) There are still manual options - albums, keywords and so on - but the front and centre features are those automatic ones.

The Cloud becomes the centre because people want to shoot with their phones, run a few filters and show them to their friends or share them. The cloud facilitates all of that, and again, automation is the key. Volume you see. Folks don't want to spend time organising...

As phone cameras have improved - and they have - sales of point and shoot cameras are falling and dSLRs are pretty static. The dominant photo device of today is the mobile phone, and Apple make rather a lot of them, and those are the folks that Photos.app is designed to serve.

But again, not exclusively. There are features in there that will work for the people who like to import/edit/organise and so on, most of the same features that were in iPhoto. But whereas automation in iPhoto gave you events, with limited flexibility, in Photos it gives you moments with none. So, use the manual tools - like albums, keywords, smart albums etc.

If, like me, you don't feel the app is for you, then use a different app. Personally I have an ongoing love-hate relationship with Adobe's Lightroom. I shoot with a dSLR, others in my family shoot with a P&S and phones. All are managed in LR. But Photos is free and LR isn't.

Which app to use depends on that features you require in your manager. For instance, if you want to use iCloud sharing then you're pretty much stuck with Photos. But there are other ways of sharing.

Ask yourself, what are the features of iPhoto that you miss. What ones would you like. Answer those questions and you'll be well on the way to finding a replacement.

High Sierra will add a new View, that will help to keep your imports separated. Instead of the All Photos Album you will have an album, grouped by the import session. macOS High Sierra Preview - Apple

It will be like the list of events.

Hi

I am wondering if there has been any update or likely to be?

I am still after a cahnge to the new 'photos' I hate it!

Bring back iphoto.

I get photos from my daughter and when uploading they all get mixed in date with mine. I want to be able to separate them as i used to be able to do.

Hey Apple why won't you listen to what we want?

I know there are many others out there that want this feature back too!!!!!

Hi

I am wondering if there has been any update or likely to be?

I am still after a change to the new 'photos' - I hate it!

Bring back iphoto.

I get photos from my daughter and when uploading they all get mixed in date with mine. I want to be able to separate them (Moments) as I used to be able to do in iphoto. I don't want to have to make more 'Events.'

Hey Apple why won't you listen to what we want?

I know there are many others out there that want this feature back too!!!!!

Also, remember that Photos is not compulsory and you do not have to use it. There are many alternatives.

Any suggestions of what programs?

I loved iphoto and found it easy to use. I don't understand why they had to change it.

Events don't exist in the application, that's why you can't. Now the primary organisational tool is the Moment, and they are inflexible. Either use Albums or, frankly, if that's a deal breaker for you, another app.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html is the place for feature requests and feedback

It's a deal breaker; I already use albums to group photos another way for other purposes. What other apps would you recommend, preferably something not made by Apple given my growing dissatisfaction with them.

I agree with you - I just "upgraded" to Photo and am so disappointed that I cannot use the Events like I used to: merging and splitting..

Please Apple bring back the old Events.

Personally, I use Adobe's Lightroom now. But all these apps have trials so you can explore and find the right one for you.

Albums can be used to group photos into “Events”. I agree, iPhoto Events were convenient because they were somewhat intelligently grouped when we imported. Moments are close but since we can’t fold several moments into one that’s a problem. Use feedback to let Apple know what features you want added. While Apple employees are here at ASC the ones you want to influence aren’t necessarily visiting.

You still can, it's just not intuitive.

In Photos, use the Menu to switch to "View > Albums"

In the left panel, under the heading of "Albums", click "All Photos". Now the locked-down 'Moments' view is gone.

Right Click on the heading "Albums" and select "New Folder" or "New Album". This allows you to create groups.

Drag whatever photos you want from the "All Photos" view into any new album you created.

I too am NOT happy with the new "photos'.

There are so many things missing from the old iPhoto!

I would not have upgraded if I knew I was going to lose so many features.

I want to be able to split moments as I used to in events without creating another album!

I want to be able to see file name without having to open check info everytime!

Editing is not the same - i want the blur feature back and the ability to put the black or white fog around photos.

Whose idea was the change????? NOT a good one!!!!
Bring back the old iPhoto!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!

I totally agree!

I have written to Apple Feedback many times but of course they don't respond. grrrr

Let's hope they reinstate the feature ASAP

Moments in Photos are the new Events, i.e. groupings of photos sorted by date taken.

When the iPhoto Library was first migrated to Photos there is a folder created in the sidebar titled iPhoto Events and all migrated iPhoto Events (which are now Moments) are represented by an album in that folder.

To open the sidebar if it's not already open use the Option+Command+S key combination.

NOTE: It's been reported by several users that if the Event albums are moved out of the iPhoto Library folder in the sidebar they may disappear. It's not widespread but several users have reported that issue. Therefore, if you want to assure that you keep those Event albums don't move them outside the iPhoto Events folder.

There's a way to simulate events in Photos.

When new photos are imported into the Photos library go to the Last Import smart album, select all the photos and use the File ➙ New Album menu option or use the key combination Command+N. Name it as desired. It will appear just above the iPhoto Events folder where you can drag it into the iPhoto Events folder

When you click on the iPhoto Events folder you'll get a simulated iPhoto Events window.

Albums and smart albums can be sorted by Title, by Date with oldest first and by Date with newest first.

If you want to merge Album A into Album B do the following:

1 - open the sidebar with the Option+Command+S key combination.

2 - with the two albums visible in the sidebar click on A.

3 - select all of the photos in A.

4 - drag them onto the Album B icon in the sidebar to add them to B.

5 - verify all of the photos are in B.

6 - delete A from the sidebar.

Tell Apple what missing features you'd like restored or new features added in Photos via Apple-Photos Feedback.