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Live Photos not Syncing to iPhone

I typically keep all of my photos synced with the Photos app on my Mac, and just copy the last six months to my iPhone.


I just got an iPhone 7, and started using live photos, but I noticed when I copy the photos to my Mac, they do stay as live photos, but then when I copy hem back to my IPhone they become static JPEG's.


Is there some setting that I missing that would copy the Live Photos back to my phone?

iPhone 7 Plus, iOS 10, null

Posted on Sep 24, 2016 7:53 AM

Reply
27 replies

Aug 27, 2017 6:41 AM in response to Folksteve

That is not a bug - that is not a feature of Photos and has never been nor has it even been advertised - you can want what ever but you wanting does not mean the world has to stop and supply it - Photos does not offer that feature - you can request it - https://www.apple.com/feedback/


Just because you want something does not mean it is available or that the lack of fulfilling your dreams is a bug


LN

May 5, 2017 4:39 PM in response to Tom O'Drain

I take photos with the iPhone 7, sync Camera Roll to MacBook Air Early 2015 Photos App, then I transfer photos back to iPhone 7 Photos App, which are now in the moments section.


The problem I'm having is only HDR Live Photos do not sync back to my phone. The live photo will work on my Mac, but only shows as a static image when it sinks back to the phone.


Is there some way to fix this problem?


All devices have the newest software installed.

May 21, 2017 11:42 AM in response to 7139275686

Slowly live photos start to su*k!

I like the feature a lot but if I'm looking at the trouble I had with it from introduction until now... I'm not sure.

Have the same prob as described above. HDR live photo on the phone after taking it: all good!

After sync to photo app on the mac and back to the phone: voila you have a still image.

No solution yet...

May 21, 2017 1:33 PM in response to cold_chardonnay

And actually thats not a fix, just a workaround. If they build syncing then they should build it right.

It is neither a fix a nor a work-around. It is the Apple provided way to sync devices with iOS 10 and Sierra and the new features that come with the new Macs and iPhone models.

It is up to you - if you do not like the new features of the new devices, do not upgrade to newer system versions. I am very glad that my iPad 3 cannot be upgraded beyond iOS 9, and my iPod touch is stuck at iOS 6. So I'll always have the systems I like on these devices. iTunes photo sync is still working well for the iPad, and the music.app on the iPod touch is perfect and better than on my iPhone, but on the iPhone with iOS 10 the iTunes sync for Photos is horrible, so I had to switch to iCloud Photo Library. On the plus side, I can sync edits to the Mac.

May 21, 2017 2:15 PM in response to léonie

Do I get you right?

Because Apple proposes an aditional way of syncing it's ok to mess with the old way?

And also, the sync is basically working very well. Just live photos with hdr component is poblematic.

I don't believe that has something to do with minor or major software releases, I think it's just a normal bug.
I reportet that via apple bug reporting too and didn't get any "it's not a bug it's a feature" message.


Seems to me like we're going a little off topic here. Sorry for that.

May 21, 2017 2:18 PM in response to cold_chardonnay

It is not a fix since here is no problem to fix - it is the simple solution to your need, does exactly what you want and is totally automatic - you can reject the solution then you will not have the capability it provides - but certainly the fact that you do not want to use the simple solution does not mean it does not exist - it is a choice you make (and have every right to) and like every choice it has consequences - one choice gives you certain capabilities and another choice does not


LN

May 21, 2017 2:29 PM in response to LarryHN

I agree with you, except the "exactly what you want" part, since exactly what I want is local sync without iCloud.

And until it'll be fixed I'll live with the consequences of that decision. This was not meant as a complaint, I was seeking for people with the same problems since I thought this is a kind of support community where you exchange thoughts on probs you have.

I got now that I'm not supposed to have problems if there is a solution to a similar problem already 😉

Sorry, my bad.

May 22, 2017 7:16 AM in response to LarryHN

Of course it's a problem. Live HDR Photos don't work after transfer back to the phone. This statement is incorrect "It is not a fix since here is no problem to fix". Your statement is nonsensical. Again, of course their is a problem if transferring anything back to the phone by way of Apple approved methods breaks said thing. ********
<Edited by Host>

May 21, 2017 11:01 PM in response to cold_chardonnay

Do I get you right?

Because Apple proposes an aditional way of syncing it's ok to mess with the old way?

I would rather call it design decisions for new, major software releases. Most parts of iOS and macOS have been completely rewritten, new features added to support new media items like Live Photos and 3D photos, a new file system. When an operating system needs a major rewriting, because most of the basic system services have changed, it is natural to start small with a slimmed down version and remove legacy code. This way the operating system will not hog all available storage, will be easier to maintain and develop further, and will be much faster.


The next system iOS 11 will probably break many more features and support for older apps. Since my iPhone has been updated to iOS 10.3.2, many apps I love are telling me, that they need updating and the current version will not run on the next iOS version. There are a total of 22 apps, many of them important to me, like exiftool, where no update is available and that will not run on iOS 11.

Aug 30, 2017 1:41 PM in response to Tom O'Drain

I did the same thing. It isn't elegant, but I used iMessage to send about 50 live photos back to my iPhone and then saved them to my camera roll. This gives me a copy of both the live photo and the static photo that is synced via iTunes. Now after I sync my phone to Photos, I have to manually delete items from my camera roll to be sure I keep the live photos I want. I'm saving my pennies to buy enough space in iCloud for my photo library, but my library seems to grow faster:)

Nov 6, 2017 2:54 AM in response to shengting

Is there any other staff of apple can answer this question?

Larry is not an Apple employee. The Apple Support communities are a forum where Apple users help each other, and Larry is a user volunteering to help like all of us, and he helped already many people.

Occasionally you will see posts here by members with an  below the avatar. These posts are by Community Specialists, employed by Apple. The community specialists will occasionally reply to posts, that went unanswered for a long time. But the Apple developer team does not post in these forums.

Live Photos not Syncing to iPhone

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