Apple News, Analysis and Podcasts

Yesterday I took some photos with my iPhone 4. When I got back to the office I plugged the iPhone into the USB connector and watched as my iPhone synced with iTunes and iPhoto...  or so I thought.

What I found was while my podcasts downloaded from my Mac to my iPhone, the photos did not sync from my iPhone to my Mac. So I unplugged the iPhone and tried again. Same thing. Hmmm. I thought that the syncing problem must have something to do with iCloud and iOS 5. Unfortunately, I appear to be correct.

WIth iOS 5 and Lion 10.7.2, you can no longer just sync photos between your iPhone and Mac. Nope, apparently that was too easy. Now, everything must go through iCloud using Photo Stream. This is extremely frustrating, because I don't necessarily want Apple or anyone else to have access to my photos unless I decide to share them. I'm a private person. I don't want my photos "magically" going anywhere except where I tell them to. I don't have anything to hide (I took a picture of a building and a keyboard), but the point is, why does Apple have to be involved in this transfer? Why do things need to go anywhere except between my devices? Why has Apple made this so complicated?

I enabled iCloud Photo Stream on my phone and then on my Mac under System Preferences. Then I waited. I even uttered some magic phrases I learned as a child. No success. My photos on my phone had failed to migrate to my Mac.

Magically syncing between all your devices is a nice concept. I get that. But why in the bloody hades do I need to use iCloud to do that?!? Tell me the scenario where it is so necessary that iCloud is now apparently the only way to accomplish this task. If I want to sync photos between my Mac and iPhone, I have a USB cable that has worked just fine for over four years now. It's a very simple process: plug it in and photos sync — viola. Apple's new magic of iCloud: Photo Stream has taken a simple workflow and complicated it. Bad idea.

I still haven't gotten that shot of a building and keyboard from my iPhone to my Mac. And both devices are sitting on the desk right next to one another. What a nightmare.

3 Comments

1. bob.A ~ October 25, 2011 10:53
   Connect your iPhone to your home WiFi that the Mac is connected to, the pictures will sync if you have set up iPhoto to do so.
2. Lantz ~ October 25, 2011 12:42
   I saw this elsewhere. I kept getting the same problem shortly after upgrading to the latest software. In your iPhoto, you have to open up Finder, open Pictures folder. In it you will find iPhoto Library. Open the folder preferences (I don't know the term how to do it, but on my macbook I use two fingers to tap it open). Select "Show Package Contents" and then look for iPod Photo Cache. Take that file and trash it!! Go back to your iTunes, and sync your photos. This should work. I just tried it and I am relieved to finally get my pictures back on my iPhone!
3. E . Werner Reschke ~ October 25, 2011 14:28
   Awesome. That did the trick. What a nightmare. That's got to be a bug of some sort. Wow. Thanks Lantz, -Werner

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