Apple's new photo management app for OS X, simply named Photos, is part of the latest OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 update that debuted in April. Apple has replaced the venerable iPhoto application that has been around for more than a decade. iPhoto still works on the latest Yosemite release, but Apple will no longer update it going forward.
Photos for OS X is a free app that will install when you upgrade your Mac to Yosemite (version 10.10.3), so there’s no need to download it directly from the Apple App Store.
Photos lets you organize photos you've added to your library, edit them, and easily share them by uploading to Facebook and Twitter. You can also order prints and photo books just like you could with iPhoto.
Most importantly, with a paid subscription to Apple's new iCloud Photo Library, Photos will finally let you view all your photos (not just the ones you've captured on that particular device) on every Apple device you own by synching your Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, or Apple Watch via the web. Having all my photos on Apple’s iCloud servers has been something I’ve wanted for many years, not only for ease of accessing my entire photo library no matter which device I'm using, but also because a lot of my most precious data is finally being backed up to the cloud.
The subscription price for iCloud Photo Library storage is fairly reasonable, and even very large libraries can be uploaded (and therefore synced and shared) across all your devices. The iCloud Family Sharing feature allows you to easily share your photos with other family members as well as with other iCloud users.
On the Mac, the new Photos icon is similar to the one you're probably already using on your iPhone or iPad. When you launch the Photos app on your Mac for the first time, it will automatically upgrade your current iPhoto library.
After the import process is complete, your photos and videos, albums, folders, books, cards, calendars, and slideshows will all be present. Your old iPhoto library will remain intact and can still be opened with iPhoto, but if you import photos into the new Photos library, they won't be synced with your older iPhoto library. The Photos import process doesn’t double up on disk space for your photos, saving storage.
The Photos app on your Mac overall matches the look, feel, and functionality of the app on an iOS device. Just like on an iPhone or iPad, zooming in or out (by pinching or reverse pinching on a trackpad) displays events defined by location. If you zoom further out, you’ll see events organized by time and locations. Zoom all the way out and photos are organized by year.
After upgrading from iPhoto, the Photos app definitely feels like a more modern, speedy upgrade of iPhoto. For people who use an iPhone or iPad, Photos for OS X will feel familiar, with better photo editing tools, excellent iCloud Photo Library syncing, and the ability to handle large libraries with much greater ease than iPhoto ever did.
If ConnectedLiving can assist you with upgrading your iPhoto library to Photos, purchasing additional iCloud Drive storage, or syncing your photos across your devices using the iCloud Photo Library, please give us a call at (916) 972-9000.
