If I copy an album in my MacBook Photos Album folder via iTunes to my iPad Photos I will get duplicate pictures of every photo in the album on the iPad Collections. If I sync again to remove the album from the iPad then the duplicate photos will be removed from Collections as well as the album.
MacBook Air (13-INCH, MID 2011), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)
I see this as well. I believe it views the synced photos from iTunes as separate photos from the iPhone default albums (camera roll, photo stream). So if what you sync from iTunes already exist on the iOS device in one of it's albums, it will show as duplicates in Moments.
iTunes sync is copying photos to the phone, so it's seen as a new photo different from what already exists on the iOS device.
I don't disagree with this, but the Photos Collections list on both devices (Mac Photos versus iPad Photos) is exactly the same! One would assume therefore that the id's would be the same and the album on Mac versus iPad should then look the same. Duplicate photos of a large number of photos on the iPad will seriously deplete my available storage. In addition, if I want to delete any one or more of the photos that have been duplicated which one do I choose, the duplicate or the original? I believe only the original is presented with the ash can for delete while the duplicate is not.
The Photos Collections list is not the same between devices. They are unique to each device. If they contain the same photos, it would be because they are both storing the same images on each device. The only way they would be linked as the same is if you were using the iCloud Photo Library. In that case, all devices would auto sync and would be the same.
My Collections on my computer contains 5000 photos. Collections on my phone only contains about 100 photos, the ones from the Camera Roll & PhotoStream on the iPhone and the ones from my synced album through iTunes. Any picture I synced through iTunes that is same as what's in PhotoStream or Camera Roll on the iPhone are duplicated in Moments on the iPhone. It views photos added from a different source as different pictures.
In reality, they are duplicate photos because there was the original copy stored on the phone and the copy synced from iTunes.
Okay, I think I understand this now! And yes I have the same situation; 35,000 on Mac, 3000-5000 on iPad, much less on the iPhone. I do not use iCloud storage due to cost and time it would take to upload all the photos. Guess I'll just have to learn to live with it and create the folders on the device I want the album to be on.
Thank you for your help.
I just delete my camera roll after photos get put on the computer. I don't rely on PhotoStream to keep photos for viewing for any length of time, so that's why I sync only the photos i want on each device with iTunes. I only keep a limited amount of photos on my phone and iPad, so I only use one album which I add the pictures i want to view.
You can just select each album individually in iTunes to add to a device. I actually never even view the Moments timeline on the iOS devices.
You're Welcome for the help.
I'm experiencing the same thing. This never used to happen with iPhoto. Now, any photo that has automatically been uploaded to My Photo Stream by Photos for Mac will appear as a duplicate in Moments if that photo is then synched back to the iOS device as part of an album. I do not have iCloud Photo Library enabled, but have My Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Sharing enabled on all devices.
Here's my typical workflow:
There are two exceptions to this behavior, which leads me to believe it's a bug:
1) Photos taken with my iPhone, which have been synched to Photos, deleted from the camera roll, and synched back as part of an album DO NOT appear as duplicates within Moments, even though they are in My Photo Stream as well as a synched album. It only happens with photos from a non-iOS camera.
2) Albums created using iCloud Photo Sharing do not produce duplicates in Moments.
I realize that Moments thinks that these are different photos because they come from two sources (My Photo Stream, synched from my Mac), but they are not. Since all of these photos are managed through the Photos app, there should be an easy way to de-dupe.
Obviously, if I wait long enough, the photos disappear from My Photo Stream, and the duplicates are gone. But I'm constantly creating "best of" albums and synching them back to my iOS devices. Since I use the Moments view more that anything else, I would love to see Apple fix this issue.
1) Photos taken with my iPhone, which have been synched to Photos, deleted from the camera roll, and synched back as part of an album DO NOT appear as duplicates within Moments, even though they are in My Photo Stream as well as a synched album. It only happens with photos from a non-iOS camera.
When you delete a photo from an iOS device's camera roll, it also deletes it from PhotoStream. Or deleting from PhotoStream on an iOS device will also delete it's original from the camera roll. So, there is no copy on the iOS device to be seen as a duplicate.
Read the last 2 points here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201317
The reverse is also true. If you import pictures to a computer from another device such as a camera, those photos get put to PhotoStream from that computer. If you delete the photo from that same computer, it will also delete it from PhotoStream as well. One difference is, from a computer, you can actually just remove a photo from the PhotoStream album (not delete) where it remains in the Photos Library. You can't choose "remove from album" on an iPhone, but you can on a computer.
2) Albums created using iCloud Photo Sharing do not produce duplicates in Moments.
iCloud Photo Sharing are not part of any library until they are imported, and will not show up in Moments unless they are part of the Library. PhotoStream seems to be the exception to this on an iOS device.
In reality, I think PhotoStream should also not show in Moments, then you would not have the duplicate issue.
Remember, iTunes is not keeping the 2 libraries synced up. You are using iTunes to copy specific photos or albums from one device's photo library to another. It is a true separate copy from what exists on the iPhone's camera roll or PhotoStream. So apparently, devices do not check the metadata to screen for duplicates when pictures come from different sources.
So, maybe that's a feedback point to send to Apple.
Thanks, Glenn. Now I understand why my iPhone pictures don't show up as duplicates. It's still a bummer that the exact same picture in My Photo Stream and a synched album will show up twice in Moments. This never happened with iPhoto. Perhaps there was different metadata applied to the photos that helped iOS determine duplicates. I also really miss the ability to delete all camera roll photos (including ones previously imported) from within iPhoto's import screen. I have to use Image Capture now.
They made changes to PhotoStream also to make everything more compatible between devices and to create the iCloud Photo Library. Who knows how everything will work out in the end.
You can delete from the iPhone when you do manual imports, but you have to select it before importing. Fact is, if you use PhotoStream, the photos will already be on the computer and no need for a manual import.
So, there is no perfect solution in any case.
One thing is for sure. Nothing stays the same. Look for improvements and changes in the future.
Sync Photos Mac Album to iPad creates duplicate photos
