A Great Leap Backwards

Mac
#1

Remember the discussion about Photos vs iPhoto, and Aperture? I was at the time fairly unimpressed with Photos, but I persisted, and I’ve spent vast sums on extensions and apps to make the Photos experience more appealing for me, and in some ways that was successful.

I tried to reinstall iPhoto from the App store at one point and it told me that iPhoto was not compatible with the OS I was running (it may have been El Cap, I can’t remember). So I gave up for a bit. Then, for whatever reason, I dragged out my old iLife DVD and installed it from there. I was surprised, given that the version is older than the one in the app store. Anyway, the install was quick and painless. Imagine my amazement when I was then able to update it to the latest version via the app store (this is in the purchased tab, I’m aware its no longer available for new users)

I’m not planning to update the OS beyond Sierra at this stage and I am currently importing photos from my external drive where they are all backed up to, outside the Photos Library. I’ve found that I am really appreciating the old way of creating events (and being able to do so from a mass batch of photos from several years) and I remember this was one of the beefs that @Oldmacs had at the time of the introduction of Photos. I confess to feeling a degree of relief, now that I have it back.

I’ve not yet made the leap to deleting my Photos library but I think I probably will, once I’ve completed my imports.

Curious about anyone else making this decision also? Or is everyone plugging on with the latest and maybe not so greatest?

#2

Funny how it pans out, isn’t it?

Without intending to be contrary but getting there anyway, I am quite happy with Photos for the tiny amount of post-processing I do.
I don’t organise my images into events or anything like that - Photos is basically just a big bucket I throw all my images into and sync via iCloud between my devices.

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#3

Yeah its good for that, I have a friend with vast quantities of photos and I wouldnt even try to sort those into events if I was her. But I do like to keep some things separate from the rest, though not necessarily in Albums as such, and iPhoto works well for it. I’ve also discovered that its happy to talk to my RAW editor of choice which is Luminar, and Luminar picks up all the Creative Kit plugins from MacPhun (now Skylum) as well. I think it also allows PS plugins, so basically, I’m set.

#4

I do really like the updates through the versions to the Photos app. The editing functionality is now really quite up there.

Unfortunately I have to use Lightroom for work, and it’s a painful experience every time I have to delve in there for anything. Nothing is intuitive, nothing makes sense (why does Command-I bring up some obscure window, rather than the import area, for example?).

I was really sad when Apple discontinued Aperture, because it was such a great app.

I guess the sorting functionality of Photos leaves a bit to be desired, but as I use iCloud extensively, I do really love getting my photos across my Mac, iPhone and iPad relatively pain-free.

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#5

I was tempted to reinstall Aperture, but then I realised that with Luminar as the external editor, I didn’t really need it.

I’d agree with you on the editing functionality in Photos, its streets ahead of where it was, and I have used it extensively for quick fixes. But for serious editing, I just cant stay with it. I must use other apps.

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#6

My photos are a complete mess right now… I was considering Aperture before it was killed off, have not changed to Photos, just have photos here and there and everywhere.

On the list of things to do…

#7

Photos is actually now part of my home photo and video management workflow - especially with 3rd party app integration into it - it actually works well, and seem to be fine with larger photo libraries (over 100k/ 3 Tb) - so even though it’s not as good as Aperture, it’s working fine for me now.

#8

Definitely. I just don’t get why they couldn’t have at least included it as an option in Photos…

I’ve not been using any photo management program. I’ve instead been doing it all in Finder. I don’t trust Apple to leave Photos alone, because knowing them I’ll put in a huge amount of effort setting it up just as I like only to have them redesign it from the bottom up, leaving out features (in the sprit of iPhoto to Photos, Final Cut Pro to Final Cut Pro X, iWork 11 to the 2013 version and so on).

I can however say @kyte, that iPhoto still works on High Sierra, and since it is 64 bit, it should work on Mojave, but iirc, your MacBook won’t get Mojave?

#9

Nope, can’t have Mojave on the laptop but it doesnt matter, I’m content with Sierra.

I can’t do it in Finder (the photo management thing) because I would lose track in a heartbeat. I’ve been aided in iPhoto, to trim my photo collection for 16k down to 5k. Much more manageable but still not something I’d want to play with in Finder. EXCEPT if I didnt want to use photostream to get stuff onto my iPad, I would use an app called Unbound (see at https://unboundformac.com), which lets you see all photos in directories you specify and then access other apps for editing, or Lyn (see at https://www.lynapp.com) which I acquired on the recommendation from someone in this forum, and it does the same and also has some editing features as well.

Maybe I need to rethink, entirely. Do I really need photostream? I coped just fine without it before it existed…

#10

I used to love iphoto. When photos came along it really made me disillusioned with Apple. Not long after Google Photos came along and I started using that. Yeah I know I’m probably selling my soul to google but it simply works so well, I would gladly pay a bit for it if they asked. These days I simply import stuff from my camera roll onto a couple of portable drives for backup purposes and everything else lives in Google Photos. The worst part of Google Photos was the initial upload import which took AGES but the finished product is so worth it.

Photostream was very handy but I simply don’t need it any more.

#11

I’ve heard that its very good, but I still… just can’t :frowning: Pity Apple isnt so generous. Then again, if it was, we’d all be thinking we’re selling our souls, just to a different company.

#12

The eternal dilemma. Do I install the best of breed app for each function, or do I use all the Apple apps because they work really well together and across devices within the Apple ecosystem? In sporting terms, do I want a team of champions, or a champion team. I believe that a champion team usually beats a team of champions, but it is not always the case.

In this case, Google Photos provides some really neat capabilities. However, the photos are no longer as easily accessible by other apps. There is more to learn and more to keep up to date. They double up on upload bandwith goven you may still have photostream or iCloud Photo Library running. Google photos also compresses the files a little more, unlrss you are paying extra.

The use of an “oldie but goodie” app, such as iPhoto, creates a variation of this dilemma. The oldie may be familar, useful and armed with just the right functionality, but does it work with all the other, newer apps. Will it work with other ecosystem devices such as iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV etc.? Will it still work after the next update of the OS or other apps?

I do not have the answer. Federico Vitacci wrote an excellent article in Macstories at the start of this year that touched on this dilemma.

I still look for and trial best of breed apps, but usually revert back to Apple’s default. I do use Fantastical, Airmail (only on the iPad), Pixelmator, Notability, Agenda and more, but I stick with Safari, Reminders, iMessages, Contacts, and iCloud (plus OneDrive). As I said, I don’t have the answer.

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