Photos keep seeing old pics as new, importing ad nauseum.

I have the same issue on my iPad Pro and iPhone 6s. I have a huge iCloud Photo Libary (>40,000 photos, all synced to iCloud). On the Mac, Photos is set to keep all originals on the local hard drive, and on the iOS devices, iCloud Photo library is set as "Optimize iPhone (iPad) storage"

My iPad Pro insists there are >1,400 photos to be imported, and the iPhone 6s reports over 400 new items. These are pictures dating back 12 years to 1 year ago.

To troubleshoot, I also have:

1. Deselected iCloud photo library for both devices and

2. Deleted any remaining images in the Phone and iPad Pro using Image Capture

3. Then confirmed that Photos reports 0 new photos

But after re-enabling iCloud Photo Library on these devices, giving them many hours to re-sync the thumbnails on the iOS devices, I once again am getting the New Items as above. I tried importing the pictures but on next connection, Photos reports hundreds or over 1,000+ new items again.

I've also tried apps like iMazing but it won't delete Photo roll or other images if iCloud Photo Library is enabled. I want to use iCloud Photo Library to it's fullest extent (I have the largest iCloud plan as well), so disabling is not an option.

Running iOS 9.3 on all iOS devices, iMac 27" 5K running 10.11.3

Yes I could ignore it, but this seems like a major persistent bug.

If you are using ICPL you do not also import images form the devices syncing by ICPL - you either use ICPL or you import directly - not both - it you do both you will get duplicates and with ICPL importing is not needed since ICPL keeps the libraries in sync

LN

That is incorrect. ICPL is supposed to be able to identify images already in its database and allow you to manually import new images. This is broken functionality. If your reasoning is correct, then an iPhone with ICPL (with no new pictures or screenshots taken on the phone) when connected to Photos will show either zero new images, or 47,000 new images.

My other iPhone 6 correctly shows zero new images when there are none, and is sync'd with ICPL. My iPad Air also shows zero new images and is sync'd with ICPL. Each device properly shows new screenshots or photos taken, if given enough time to upload to ICPL, they will show zero new images.

It also doesn't make sense that the iPad Pro and the iPhone 6s, both starting from zero photos, when sync'd with ICPL (both devices were zeroed and re-sync'd with ICPL last night at the same time) then show 1,400 new images on the iPad and 416 new images on the iPhone 6s. Both show 47,000+ images in the ICPL database.

The reason why a user might still manually import the images is that it is much faster to do it using USB than over WiFi if you have a lot of images taken and were away from WiFi (eg. on holiday). This is exactly the use case I've done for several different iPhones in the past, using Photos for Mac. YES, I know if given enough time, ICPL will eventually sync the pictures in, but to emphasize: Photos does (and should) take this into account. It's just not doing it properly in 2 out of 4 of my devices, but these are my latest devices (although all 4 are in use).

WHat ever you say - but you are totally wrong - if you import the same photos multiple times you will have duplicate and you should not use both IP+CPL and direct imports on the same device as you have proven by your post relating your problem with duplicates - that is the exact cause

LN

You might have missed the point: those New items are appearing after a FRESH sync, with no duplicate import made, NO device took new images in this time period (especially images that are 12 years old).

Each device had a fresh sync, and each device is showing a different number of new images. The only source of images on a freshly sync'd ICPL was directly off of ICPL, and both devices had the sync initiated at the same time. I stress that BOTH devices had ZERO images on them before re-sync'ing to ICPL, cleared by Image Capture as well as by unselecting ICPL and allowing it enough time to delete the images internally.

Therefore, it makes little sense that either device has any new images to ICPL (since all images came from ICPL, and NONE were re-imported at the time of the "New Images" list), and makes less sense that one has 1,400 new and the other has ~400 new images when BOTH completed the sync in the SAME time period, BOTH started from ZERO photos.

I reached out to Apple Support via twitter and they impressively set up a call time, and I eventually was triaged to a senior support tech. We screen shared and he was able to confirm that THIS IS NOT NORMAL BEHAVIOUR for Photos althoug he didn't know why it's happening. We went through a number of different steps, confirming my devices were configured properly (they were). I rebuilt the Photo Library and updated to Mac OS 10.11.4 and hard-reset each device. Unfortunately, this didn't work.

So far, Apple has spent >40 mins with me on the phone and screensharing to troubleshoot this, so I'm impressed with their work even if we can't fix this. They have a positive attitude: this isn't a problem the techs I spoke to have seen before and they're interested in learning more to see if they can find a fix.

I need to re-contact him (we hung up to allow Photos to repair my huge library) and he'll be sending more information to Apple Engineering to take a look. I'll update this thread when I hear back.

Same exact issue here and I would agree this is a nasty iCloud Photo Library bug. For now I would also agree with the others that the "work around" is to ignore importing directly from Photos and ONLY sync (import) via iCloud Photo Library. Hopefully Apple is aware of this issue and does issues a fix eventually.

I have this same issue but apparently it is resolved, I think....

What I did was to make sure the Photo set up between my MacBookPro and iPhone and iPad all matched.

Then I turned off iCloud Photo Library on the Mac and all devices and then replug in the iPhone to the computer.

Then Photos App will start with Import page and I select import and check mark delete after import and then go to Import and delete them and so far... all are gone...

Hey Apple... Anyone paying attention???

916 bogus "New Items". Already deleted duplicates many times...

Is this really hard to get right?

TonesNotes wrote:

Hey Apple... Anyone paying attention???

916 bogus "New Items". Already deleted duplicates many times...

Is this really hard to get right?

Nope - as documented this is strictly a user to user forum

To rudely address Apple use this form http://www.apple.com/feedback/photos.html or call the using the contact us list at the bottom of this page

LN

I submitted a bug report to Apple's system on this issue and it was sent back as a "duplicate", so they are aware of the bug. Hopefully they'll have a fix soon.

I was having the same problem. I talked to the people in the Photos department this afternoon. The solution is to make sure there is NOT an X in this box in Photos at the top (It says "Open Photos for this device.")

Although the iPad or iPhone will still show up if you open Photos while it is attached, it will not automatically import the images. This is clearly a bug, but if you have Photos in iCloud turned on, then all the photos are automatically uploaded whenever there is a Wi‑Fi connection from the device. Don't be fooled by photos that you have already uploaded!

I can't believe this thread hasn't produced a clear answer. I am ditching the Photos App for good, it's just too frustrating. This one's on Apple.

I'm also having this issue. Only started after the new Photos App came into play. I don't see what the issue was with iPhoto. Never had a problem with it. I may resort back myself.

TThere is a clear answer to this issue. Check my answer above. Do NOT check the box "Open Photos for this device." Since I have done that, I have not had any more duplicates. Of, course, it is also important to remember that ALL photos are being uploaded wirelessly, so ignore any upload messages in Photos. The solution is not perfect, but it works. Being able to use plugins in Photos is worth the minor hassle!