There's got to be a better way to sync iPhone photos!

November 24, 2008 8:58 AM

So I ponied up and got an iPhone last week after holding out for a year and a half. I'm head-over-heels in love with this thing! However, as is want to happen in relationships, there is usually one or two glaring flaws that emerge after some time spent together. I've found my one big gripe (so far) with the iPhone; photo syncing.

I set up iTunes to sync with a folder on my PC thinking it would actually, you know, sync the folders. But that was not to be. For some reason they thought it would be a good idea to copy the PC folders with pictures to the iPhone in similarly named folders, as well as copy all pictures to another folder called "Photo Library". As far as getting pictures from the phone to my PC, I'm stuck with the Windows Camera and Fax Wizard, or whatever the f' it's called. Apparently iTunes wants no part of this. This is no small source of grief for me since I had envisioned having a seperate folders for contact pics, wallpaper, camera pics, etc. (the Wizard just grabs everything, renames it, and throws it in a folder).

So, my question... Is there any software (free, ideally) that actually syncs (as in, mirrors the folders on each side) photos between my iPhone and my PC?

p.s. I'm running WinXP Pro, so no iPhoto suggestions.

posted by jluce50 to computers & internet (7 answers total)

You should be able to use Picasa, Kodak Easy Share, Adobe Photoshop Elements, etc. Picasa is free, so if you don't have it, install it and try it.
posted by jedicus at 10:02 AM on November 24, 2008

I have both Picasa and PSE 6 (I assume you're referring to the Elements Organizer). I know you can use these apps to import pictures from a camera, but are there any advantages over the Camera and Fax Wizard?
posted by jluce50 at 11:30 AM on November 24, 2008

Well, they're easier to use, especially if you already use them to organize your other photos.

If what you're really interested is folder synchronization, then I would try something like Sugar Sync.
posted by jedicus at 11:40 AM on November 24, 2008

can I hop onto this question with a semi-related one of my own? (If I can't feel free to delete this, sorry).

Is there any way to stop iPhoto from automatically opening and trying to download photos every time I connect my iPhone to my computer? It drives me crazy, as I don't necessarily want to download my iPhone photos to iPhoto.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 5:08 PM on November 24, 2008

check out Dropbox (www.getdropbox.com). It is the best solution I've found for file management (including photos) for the iPhone. Plus you can use it for syncing files with other computers as well. It is easy to use, it is free and it has a great iPhone interface. Highly recommend this as a workaround for iTunes.
posted by uva_nupe at 6:20 PM on November 24, 2008

Thanks uva_nupe, that sounds promising. As does SugarSync, but I'd prefer not to pay for it. I'll check it out when I get home (it's blocked at work).
posted by jluce50 at 7:59 AM on November 25, 2008

I've been going insane this evening trying to delete hundreds of photos from the iPhone I just inherited from my wife. I can't believe there's no simple way to do this! It can't be done on the phone itself, it can't be done via iTunes (at least not on my WinXP PC), it can't be done with the Microsoft Scanner and Camera Wizard, it can't be done thru Windows Explorer.

This is exactly why I have avoided entering the Apple walled garden up until now -- the feeling of being straitjacketed into a system in which my content is not really my own to manipulate, and it's all hidden within slick, pretty interfaces that only let me do what Apple thinks I should be able to do.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 7:57 PM on December 9, 2008