Apple Photos and Sierra/High Sierra Issues

Question

Level 1

13 points

Apple Photos and Sierra/High Sierra Issues

Since updating to Sierra, Photos has been problematic: Constantly quitting unexpectedly, and especially when accessing certain 'People' (perhaps a corrupted 'face recognition' file. I hoped that High Sierra would correct the issues, but things only got worse:

1. Remembering that my System Photo Library is on External Drive

Since upgrading to OSX 13 (High Sierra) and Photos 3: In between uses of Photos, the application doesn’t remember that my System ‘Photo Library’ is located on an external drive. A ‘What’s New in Photos’ window appears and I must click on a ‘Get Started’ button and then establish the location of my Photo Library every time (Preferences>Library Location).

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2. Date and Time Issues

Problem #1:

Since upgrading to High Sierra, I can no longer adjust 'Date and Time' in the same manner that I could under Sierra and all previous OSX versions. Selecting a photo and then choosing 'Adjust Time and Date ...' from the 'Image' menu brings up the same dialog as prior versions of both OSX and Photos, but changing the date, time, Time Zone, or Closest City, NO LONGER sticks after clicking on the 'Adjust' button. Upon reselecting the image and again accessing the 'Adjust Time and Date' option, the date is the same as it was originally. Interestingly, however, the date appears changed in the 'Info' window, but even then, the sorting is based on the original date and now the adjusted date.

Problem #2:

If I attempt to access the ‘Adjust Time and Date’ dialog by clicking on the ‘Info Window’, not only does the date in the ‘Info’ window adjust to some apparently random change, but upon returning to the ‘Adjust Time and Date’ dialog via the ‘Image’ menu, the date defaults to the original date of the photo.

Problem #3:

Once you attempt to perform a date/time adjustment via the Info window as described in #2 above, trying to change that date again via the method in #1 above NO LONGER reflects the CHANGE in the ‘Info’ window - it adjusts to another apparently random date. AND the date in the ‘Adjust Time and Date’ dialog reverts back to the original date.

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3. People will not resort Alphabetically any more

Since upgrading to OSX 13 (High Sierra) and Photos 3: When a person’s ‘Favorite’ status is toggled OFF, that person disappears from the Favorites location as it is supposed to, but it gets placed as the BOTTOM item of the People window. Apparently photos are no longer automatically alphabetized that list. The only way to alphabetize is by dragging in place.

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4. iCloud Photo Sharing must be re-established with each launch of Photos.

Since upgrading to OSX 13 (High Sierra) and Photos 3: iCloud Photo Sharing doesn’t remain established in between uses of Photos. I must toggle it OFF/ON in Preferences (Preferences>iCloud>iCloud Photo Sharing) to see Shared Albums of friends.

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5. Photos - Crashes unexpectedly

• When Accessing Certain Faces -

Photos crashing on people tab on High Sierra | Official Apple Support Communities

• After Editing a Few Photos

Is anyone else experiencing these issues since upgrading to High Sierra? If so, do you have any solutions?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014), macOS High Sierra (10.13.1)

Posted on Nov 14, 2017 12:57 PM

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Answer 1

dperugini Author

Level 1

13 points

Nov 29, 2017 1:30 AM in response to LarryHN

Your Question: 1, 2, 4 & 5 - what is the format of the EHD and how is it connected to yruo Mac?

My Answer: My exterior hard drive is 'Journaled HFS+' connected via USB 3.0.

3 - people is not sorted alpha in HS - you can drag people to manually sort the display

Thanks. That's what I've been doing. Perhaps they'll add the alphabetizing feature back again at some future date.

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Answer 2

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Nov 29, 2017 1:52 PM in response to dperugini

1 - launch Photos and select the library on the EHD - in the Photos preferences click on use as system library - this should resolve this - what you are seeing is usually caused by having no system library or having it on an improper drive (yours is fine)

2 - I've not seen - possibly backing up and repairing your library would resolve it - note that if you are using iCloud Photo Library this will trigger a new total upload of your library to verify integrity

4 - again not sure - setting the system library may resolve

5 - there have been some reports of this - I've not seen it and have not seen a solution - possibly it will resolve itself as the background processing scanning faces completes - this can take a long time

LN

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Answer 3

dperugini Author

Level 1

13 points

Nov 29, 2017 1:50 PM in response to LarryHN

Good Suggestions All.

Reply to Suggestion #1:

I have done this multiple times, but this doesn't stick. If I shut down the computer, after I RESTART and then launch 'Photos', I have to re-establish my EHD Library as the System Photo Library every time — it doesn't survive a restart. When I just quit Photos and then relaunch it, it WILL sort of remember that I've established the EHD Library as the System Photo Library, but it launches the 'First Time' dialog, asking me if I want an overview of the Photos application. No way to escape it — with every launch of Photos it's Groundhog's Day every time. I hope I'm making that distinction clear.

Reply to Suggestion #2 & 4:

I've attempted every Repairing/Rebuilding/etc. tool available to Photos, but to no avail. I was even on the phone with Apple Support and they guided me through each of the processes yet again. Even their Magic Touch wouldn't work — it even went to a Top-Level Hardware Technician. He suggested I request the assistance of a Photos Software Specialist. I haven't done that yet, but plan to next week.

Reply to Suggestion #5:

You may be correct about the necessity of Faces to complete its scan. It uses a LOT of resources while scanning for Faces — I've watched with horror as Activity Monitor shows 98% of the processing power being taken up by the background Face Recognition activity. I even mention to the Hardware Specialist if it was a RAM issue — the MacBook Pro is limited to 16GB of RAM and I'm used to 32GB of RAM of my previous iMac. But he said, "No, 16GB of RAM is plenty). Hopefully, what you've suggested will eventually work itself out as the scanning lessens.

Thanks for your comments.

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