Hi,
Is there any way to have iPads and iPhones sync photos one way to our MacBook?
I would like to have photos taken on the iPad and the iPhone synced to my computer, but not have all photos saved in Photos synced to the iPad and the iPhone.
Thanks;
MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)
iCloud is not designed to do this. It syncs both ways to all devices using the same Apple ID.
You would have to "move" photos from your devices to your Macbook to keep the devices clear.
Import photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer - Apple Support
Thanks..
But, mmmhh, that's rather silly isn't it?
I take most of my pictures with a camera which i then download to my computer.
Is there really no other work around?
Thanks
Instead of using iCloud Photo Library you could use Photo Stream. Note that only new photos taken after you have turned on Photo Stream are automatically uploaded. More details: My Photo Stream FAQ - Apple Support
IMO, it's not silly when that service, iCloud, was never really designed to do what you want. What you want, and is widely available elsewhere, is a hard drive in the sky.
Like a chain and its weakest link analogy, the iPad/iPhone are the weakest links in the iCloud "system" This would be because of their relatively small storage space.
You could do this if you wanted...
Do not sync your devices at all using the Photo Library. Move your photos manually from device to macbook, as you have been doing. Use iCloud to sync ONLY your macbook and the cloud. So the macbook is now the only source of photos for the cloud, and you are less limited by storage pace. You can expand the iCloud space by purchasing more if/when needed.
Use iCloud sharing to selectively put "some" photos back on to your iPhone/iPad. You create these albums in Photos on your macbook. Since they are part of the overall syncing process, anything placed in those shared albums downloads on to your iPhone and iPad. You could even publish these shared albums as websites instead and that way the photos are never on your devices at all, but websites you can visit. You can even upload images from your devices to these websites as part of your workflow. There are lots of options.
Sorry to Foxfifth and LACAllen for never thanking you for your suggestions.
Will try the Photo Stream option. I'm not in to IT, but it wouldn't be too hard to have an iCloud service in which you decide what goes whereto and in what direction: honestly, 5GB, that's less then 1 SD card of photos uploaded to my Mac.
You may want to make the suggestion to Apple: http://www.apple.com/feedback/icloud.html
sync photos over icloud one way
