I have two Albums in Photos which are designated to be synched with my iPhone.
Within iTunes - iPhone - Photos
Sync Photos is checked.
Selected albums is selected.
Include videos is checked.
Two Albums are checked (their names are "On iPhone" and "Temp on iP".
Total photos indicated are 410.
I then press the Sync button, and iTunes appears to sync with my iPhone. But the two selected Albums do not appear in Photos on my iPhone.
Help?
iPhone 7, iOS 10.2
Yeah, I want the option to use my devices as I prefer. The only reason that Apple has structured it this way is to force people to use iCloud. I don't know why, I don't see any logic in it, but someone at Apple must have a reason.
I could do it the way I want to until I recently updated from iPhoto to Photos. Now "Sync" no longer synchronizes my Albums.
So now I won't be using my iPhone for taking and sharing photos so much. Which it probably a good thing - I should be using my DSLR anyway. Thank you Apple.
Yeah, I want the option to use my devices as I prefer. The only reason that Apple has structured it this way is to force people to use iCloud. I don't know why, I don't see any logic in it, but someone at Apple must have a reason.
I could do it the way I want to until I recently updated from iPhoto to Photos. Now "Sync" no longer synchronizes my Albums.
So now I won't be using my iPhone for taking and sharing photos so much. Which it probably a good thing - I should be using my DSLR anyway. Thank you Apple.
Aaaaaack! wrote:
So, I can't have my nice album structure from Photos on my Mac appear the same way in Photos on my iPhone?
It will depend on your album structure. iTunes will not reproduce nested folders of albums, but you can sync albums, if they are at the top level of the library. I am using iTunes sync for my albums all the time.
See: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201313
- Click the box next to "Sync Photos." If instead you see "iCloud Photos is On," all of your photos and videos are already on all of your devices that use iCloud Photo Library. You don't need to sync them through iTunes.
- Choose the app or folder that you want to sync from.
If you choose to sync a folder with sub-folders, the first level of sub-folders will appear as albums on your device.
I do not want to us the iCloud Photo Library. Every time I use any iCloud product, I lose something: contacts, calendar events, notes.... I just want to synchronize my Photos Albums on my Mac with my Photos Albums on my iPhone.
This used to work just fine with iPhoto. I just updated everything to use Sierra and Photos, and the album structure in Photos on my iPhone is gone. Now I can't find the photos I want.
I've had the same issue. I sync iTunes to my Pictures folder; my Photos library is on another drive, and I keep only certain pics I want in Pictures so that my iPhone isn't cluttered. In past versions of iOS, the folders would be organized into Albums on my iPhone. But now apparently Albums are hidden; they're still there, though. The only way I've found to access them is through the search field in Photos. If I type the name of the Album (i.e,, "Family"), then that Album indeed shows up. So it could be your synced photos and folder structures are really there; you just can't see them. I have no idea why Apple made this change. But with the upcoming iOS 11 and the new Files tool, it might change again.
Are you using iOS 10.3.2, rob_earth? What you are saying is working for me on my iPad with iOS 9.3.5, but no longer on the iPhone with iOS 10.3.2.
It should work, as Apple writes:
Keep your photos safely stored and up to date on all of your devices - Apple Support
Choose the app or folder that you want to sync from.
If you choose to sync a folder with sub-folders, the first level of sub-folders will appear as albums on your device.
One, it still does not work for me.
I did my research. At the time it was new and I asked a lot of questions at the Apple Store before I made the switch.
With Apple's documentation you need to read between the lines. The support documents tell us, what will be working, but rarely, what not will be working. So it is very hard to search for limitations and unsupported features.
For example, the iCloud documentation promises, that the photos, videos, Moments, Collections, and Years and all of your Memories and People are updated everywhere. But nowhere is mentioned, that albums or even smart albums will sync. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204264
iCloud Photo Library automatically keeps every photo and video you take in iCloud, so you can access your library from any device, anytime you want. Any changes you maketo your collection on one device, change on your other devices too. Your photos and videos stay organized into Moments, Collections, and Years. And all of your Memoriesand People are updated everywhere. That way you can quickly find the moment, family member, or friend you're looking for.
The document describing how iCloud Photo Library will sync between Macs mentions the albums and smart albums, https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204486
So we can be sure, that the smart albums will sync to iCloud. And this document is one of the few documents that are describing the limitations in detail and lists the items that will not sync between two macs.
Sure you can as I said - I do it daily between two Macs and three IOS devices - it works perfectly
to sync the albums (rather than just the photos in the albums) you have to use iCloud Photo Library which does sync regular albums and folders
LN
What ever - the only way to do it is ICPL - the fact that you choose not to use it does not mean it is not possible, it means you reject the only wrking solution (which millions of people use with no problems)
LN
Ok - but that option is not available and throwing a tantrum will not change that - If you do not like Photos then use different software - Photos is totally optional and many people use different software
And Apple is not here - only experienced volunteers who help people use the software as it is released
LN
Now that we have established that Photos is behaving as designed, and that Albums no longer synching between Mac and iPhone is not an error, looking for alternative software is a good idea. Can you suggest an app for the iPhone that would organize photos into the Album structure I have established within Photos on my Mac?
Sorry, the network dropped out while I have been still editing.
It should read: " iTunes will not reproduce deeply nested folders of albums, but you can sync albums, if they are at the top level of the library or at the first folder level. "
I tried for over 3 hours to do what you are saying you want to do and I agree. Also when you download photos from iCloud it changes the date info from the date taken, to the date downloaded! Not very good tutorials out there, so stuck in this dilema like you. I also can't find out if photos in the photo app are permanent or not. Apple has horrible support articles and rely on ppl like Larry who are quite defensive but don't help, Someone needs to make a step by step tutorial for us on this new app and iCloud crap. :I
iTunes is not synching ANY of the albums I have in Photos on my Mac to Photos on my iPhone. Even if the albums are at the top level.
In iTunes, I have chosen the Photos app and selected the two albums that I would like to sync to my iPhone. When I Sync, iTunes then copies the photos from the selected albums to my iPhone, but not the Albums, so the photos are scattered amongst the albums that Apple has created (People, Places, Videos, Selfies....)
Thank you for trying!
I just want my Albums in Photos on my Mac to appear in Photos on my iPhone.
I created these albums years ago and have added photos to them over the years. I have many thousands of photos and do not wish to manually re-create the albums on my iPhone - and even if I did, they wouldn't sync....
Hi,
I have the exact same situation. I just succeeded in organizing the albums on my phone (I have dozens of them, and I need them for work to show different projects to different people). I cannot decide if the inability to sync my albums is less, or more irritating than the people telling you this won't work and not offering help.
The first issue - if you are using an external drive - don't. Copy the photos into the "Pictures" directory, within all their albums. That worked.
I hope I helped.
Albums in Photos not showing up on iPhone
