Ordering all screwed up because Apple improvises timezones

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Ordering all screwed up because Apple improvises timezones

So I'd just like to verify the existence of what I think is an incredibly idiotic flaw of the software. I have two types of images in my library; those taken with my iPhone 5S and those taken with my GoPro HERO4. Obviously the iPhone includes location data in its EXIF info which allows Photos to determine the timezone of captured images. The GoPro, not equipped with GPS, does not. The thing is that when Photos is presented with GoPro images, it assumes they were taken in the timezone my Mac is set to. That basically means that time zones that are supposed to represent the location where the image was captured now represent the location where the image was imported.

Instead of assuming the pictures were shot in the location the pictures were imported in, Photos should assume that people actually understand how to adjust their camera clocks when crossing timezones. The way it is now I am forced to set a timezone for every picture that doesn't include location data or be forced to live with a library that isn't sorted properly.

How does Apple consider the following kind of sorting, for example, to be logical: IMG1 (17:38) - IMG2 (17:52) - IMG3 (14:12) - IMG4 (17:55)

Can anyone else confirm that this is indeed the cause of my library not being sorted properly?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)

Posted on Aug 16, 2015 4:04 PM

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Answer 1

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Aug 16, 2015 4:59 PM in response to aliasjb

report to Apple - https://www.apple.com/feedback/photos.html

Only they can fix things

LN

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Answer 2

aliasjb Author

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Aug 16, 2015 5:12 PM in response to LarryHN

I am aware of this, I just wanted others to confirm the issue. I'd also be interested to know if any proponents to this exist.

Another reason why this just seems ridiculous to me is that there are plenty of times when an iPhone (or any other GPS-enabled camera) is unable to get a GPS signal and will not therefore not include location data with images. These images will be treated as if they were shot in the timezone of the system at the time they are imported, which may be halfway across the world.

So basically this implementation is unambiguously terrible as it means you're going to have to review every single image you will ever import to see if it contains GPS data and then adjust it even if the camera clock was set correctly to its respective timezone.

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