Progress Indicator for Photos shared album?

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Level 2

161 points

Progress Indicator for Photos shared album?

I see that someone mentioned this issue way back in 2015 referring to iPhoto, but as far as I can see it's still there in Photos on High Sierra: if you try to move large photos or movies from an album to a shared album, nothing seems to happen. There is no progress indicator of any kind. After a few tens of seconds, it seems that the move didn't "take", so one tries it again, and maybe again. Still no reaction, so in my case I left the iMac running all night. In the morning, ALL the moves had taken, so there were three copies of the moved picture (actually a movie) in the shared album. No comment about this from Photos (like "do you really want these duplicates?"), and no progress indicator at any point.

This is either a true bug or a deficiency in the functionality of the app. It seems amazing that it's lasted so long.

Has anyone got a way of seeing into the activity of Photos to see what's happening?

iMac, macOS High Sierra (10.13.4), New for 2012. 8Gb

Posted on Apr 27, 2018 11:24 AM

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Answer 1

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Apr 27, 2018 1:06 PM in response to Living Fossil

there are no shared albums or iCloud sharing in iPhoto - that is a feature of Photos not of iPhoto

There is no progress bar associated with uploading photos to shared albums (which in spite of the name are not albums at all but are identical to shared Photos Streams in iPhoto)

Patience is a virtue

You can request new features here - Product Feedback - Apple

LN

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

200,467 points

Apr 28, 2018 6:42 AM in response to Living Fossil

I am always adding each photo separately to a shared album and not several items at once. Otherwise I cannot be sure about the order they will have in the shared album.

After sharing one item I wait for the thumbnail of the shared album in the sidebar to change to the photo or video I just shared. It will usually change pretty soon. Then I can be sure it has been added and I add the next item.

When you share a video, it will usually take longer, because Photos has to convert the video to a smaller size for sharing. That can take several minutes. Also, when you share a large RAW file, the conversion needs some time.

You are aware, that there are limits to the number of photos and videos you can share? If you share too many items per hour or day, Photos will stopp the upload till the next hour or day. See the limits here: My Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Sharing limits - Apple Support

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Answer 3

Living Fossil Author

Level 2

161 points

Apr 27, 2018 1:13 PM in response to LarryHN

Thanks for the reply - it turns out I misquoted the article from 2015 - I didn't realise that Photos had been going that long. The author (jappareti) said:

So I created a shared album and added 30 photos to it. I then went to the album, but didn't see any photos in there, so I thought it didn't work. I tried dragging the 30 photos to the album again. Still nothing in the album. So I did it again. Now photos are finally showing up (15 mins later), but there are 180 instead of 30 (there are now 6 duplicates).

This seems like a bug to me. How do I know if the photos have been added or not? It took around 15 minutes until the photos started to show up in the album. I understand that the photos need to be uploaded to iCloud, but I think the photos should at least show up immediately in the album on my computer so I know that they have been added.

So you see, the problem is pretty old. I really think it's generous to call it a deficiency, as it denies the user essential information. I think from your description that it takes so long because the pictures are being sent on to a server somewhere with no local copy (unlike DropBox for example) - which seems to me to emphasise the need for a progress indicator, and presumably an indication of when it hasn't worked, as when contact with the server can't be established.

I will however send something to Apple Feedback.

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Answer 4

LarryHN

Level 10

106,142 points

Apr 27, 2018 1:23 PM in response to Living Fossil

What ever

Apple is not here and the volunteer users here have no more poser to change the software than you do - se can and do tell you how it actually works and that is the full extent of our power -- not sure what yu are expecting form volunteer users trying to assist other users

LN

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Answer 5

Living Fossil Author

Level 2

161 points

Apr 28, 2018 1:07 AM in response to LarryHN

LarryHN - I find your reply slightly grumpy! I am well aware that Apple doesn't have a real presence in these discussions (though it's hard to believe that they never look at them). What I was seeking was some kind of workaround or indication of progress that I'd missed - I could hardly believe that Photos really lets you re-click on a process you've already started without protecting you somehow. Well, it seems it does and that there's no workaround, so that's that.

I should say in passing that Google Photos meets one halfway in this matter, since at least it tells you that it's uploading and gives a progress indicator: on the other hand, it doesn't point out when multiple copies of the same file have been uploaded. Still, G Photos is friendlier that Photos in this respect, IMHO.

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Progress Indicator for Photos shared album?

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