How to turn off auto-open of Photo in OS 10.11.6 on my Mac

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Level 1

4 points

How to turn off auto-open of Photo in OS 10.11.6 on my Mac

How to stop Apple's "Photo" from auto-opening when I plug-in my SD-card?

For years I've used Apple's, "Image Capture" for quick editing of "keepers" on my SD cards before going on to lightroom (used to be Aperture, but Apple killed the trust with lack of support, I have no idea why?).

About three months ago, every time I inserted the SD card into the reader everything came to a grindingly slow pace till Apple's "Photo" program opened, "Image Capture" would not open till Apple's, "Photo" opened, a very slow and annoying process. I don't use Apple's, "Photo" for much anything, it's to slow to open, offers little flexibility or range.

In the useful days of iPhoto it was straight forward, you opened Preferences and turned the feature on or off - simple, useful and smart. Now in Apple's "Photo" there is no way to turn the feature on or off, Why? Does more compatibility between devices automatically mean less flexibility and control by us the users?

If anyone can help I would appreciated it or please let me know if nothing can be done to stop Apple's "Photo" program from auto-opening!

If nothing can be done, I'll have no chose but to put "Photo" in the trash and delete it so I may work with my photos the way I choose not Apple's, "no choice" method.

By the way, WHY the name change iPhoto to Photo??? Photo is ubiquitous at least "iPhoto" was clear when I ask for help with "iPhoto" every one know what I mean. When I ask for help with "Photo" no one knows what I'm talking about because it's non-specific, this is a change that only confused rather then being helpful, again, Why?

My Mac:

Hardware: 24" early 2009, 3.06 GHz Core 2 Duo, 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3Software: Photo v 1.5 running on OS v10.11.6

iMac (24-inch Early 2009), OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Sep 20, 2016 7:59 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 21, 2016 7:09 PM in response to Karl WS

When you put in the SD card and then Photos opens, do you see anything else in that little window across the top of the Photos screen? I usually see a check box there - something like "Open Photos when this camera is connected". If you toggle that off, then next time you put in the SD card, Photos shouldn't open. (Just be glad your computer is seeing SD cards. I need to reboot my iMac for it to read an SD card.)

I don't think there's a way to turn this off for every device - you need to toggle it off for every camera / iPhone / iPad, so any time I connect a new device, I need to go through it again.

On the name "Photos" instead of "iPhoto": yeah, I agree that it's annoying. I've sent feedback and you can do the same, but I doubt it'll help. Using "Mac Photos" or "MacOS photos" can help with the searches, but it's still a pain.

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Answer 2

Karl WS Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 21, 2016 7:26 PM in response to Lost in Asia

Many thanks, my friend, it worked like a charm. No body else seemed to know how to do it, this was my third try.

I wish there was a convenient way to learning how to do the "basic" functions when Apple chooses to make big changes in good old tried-and-true software.

I will sent feedback about "Photo" name change, a unfortunate choice.

Good luck with getting your computer reading SD card again.

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