“We got a chance to spend some time with a ‘developer seed’ version of Photos, which is available to registered developers starting today. A final version will be available with an update to OS X later this spring, and a public beta should also be available sometime before that. Even though the Photos app we used was not yet finished, we’re quite impressed with what’s here, and it’s clear that this is a pretty giant leap forward over iPhoto,” Dan Seifert writes for The Verge. “It fully replaces iPhoto and brings a lot of the ideas Apple debuted on the iPhone and iPad to the desktop, including refined edit tools, automatic organization based on time and location, and integrated iCloud backup.”
“The new Photos app effortlessly scrolls through thousands of photos, and you can quickly page through your collection, marking images as favorites,” Seifert writes. “There are also some really nice details, like a “loupe” mode that lets you preview images when you mouse over them. All of that contributes to making Photos much more enjoyable to use and a more modern experience than iPhoto ever was. We’ll have to see if those performance improvements hold up once we have thousands of our own photos in the final version later this year, but we’re crossing our fingers that the days of managing multiple libraries just to keep their size down are in the past.”
“Photos’ other new big feature is its deep integration with iCloud Photos. While it was possible to sync photos to iCloud Photos with iPhoto, it always felt like a tacked-on feature and wasn’t very easy to use,” Seifert writes. “That’s completely changed with Photos; it’s easy and painless to back up all of your photos and videos to the cloud and then access them on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad wherever you are. All of the photos you take with your iPhone are available on your Mac and vice versa. Gone are the confusing and arbitrary limits to how many photos could be stored in the cloud with Photo Stream. Photos will now just use the storage available in your iCloud account.”
Read more in the full article here.
In a companion article for The Verge, Josh Lowensohn and Nathan Ingraham write, “One of the biggest problems right now is what to do with all our photos. Taking them is easier than ever. So is sharing them. But storing and organizing them all in different places still manages to be an experience filled with gotchas, and one that varies wildly depending on what companies you’ve sworn allegiance to with your phone and computer. And if that company’s been Apple, you’ve basically been a guinea pig in a good idea that was hastily (and poorly) executed. Apple might have just fixed that for Mac users with the new Photos app.”
Read more in the full article here.
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Apple’s all-new ‘Photos’ app turns iCloud’s silver lining into pure gold – February 5, 2015
I do not want a scaled up mobile app masquerading as a desktop app. That is exactly what this sounds like.
There is no problem with storage- the answer is called a Macintosh.
Good riddance. I’ve been avoiding iPhoto for a couple of years now. It’s slow, stuffed with silly gimmicks (faces?), and a mere shadow of its original philosophy.
iPhoto had its place. When it was released back in 2001-02, it was totally unique. But we worked with our photos very differently back then. I for one can’t wait to get my hands on the new Photos app.
I used iPhoto on limited basis, usually when I wanted a break ….. Darn thing was slow!
When Photos was announced Apple said there would be plug-ins. I hope so. The Verge said that they would not. However this is an early version and plug-ins will have to be written or rewritten for it. With plug-ins this would make Photos a great prosumer, even pro, tool. Usere would start with basic version then add what they wanted as they advance in their skills. This would also be a good third-party market. When iOS first came out I liked the idea of being able to buy the small parts of Photoshop you actually wanted and save money and space. However moving photos between apps can be a pain. This will solve that problem. If they allow plug-ins, than this could be a easy way to take on Adobe.
iPhoto had some good traits. For a while, it was even useful to use it to make certain edits in an Aperture library that Aperture couldn’t easily do (because iPhoto and Aperture could open each other’s libraries). And programs like iPhoto Library Manager were worth their weight in gold (heh).
I’ll be curious to see if iPhoto and Aperture will still be able to open Photo libraries and vice versa (and to see if Photo even allows multiple libraries, as iPhoto and Aperture did).
With almost 80,000 photos and videos, I don’t expect much use of Photo’s iCloud features – too expensive, and it’ll mess with my phone’s data plan. I just hope it’s at least as robust an editing and management tool as the programs it replaces.
Are they kidding? I do have 5 GB of iCloud storage. My Aperture library + iPhone library have about 400 GB of storage. I will never use this iCloud Photos …
The syncing feature will be very useful for me since the main library is on my server but it would be easier to edit on my laptop.
Managing the iPhoto library is a bit of a pain. Hopefully this will help.
This will make it easier to manage my 10,000 selfies! 😛
Seriously though iPhoto needed the overhaul. New stuff will be added as we go along. I feel bad for Aperture users though. Hate to see them end up buying Adobe stuff.
What will happen to all of the Events we have painstakingly created? The new Photos app makes no mentioned of Events but instead uses other methods of grouping photos.
What I want to know with the new Photos app is will I be able to have input from multiple iCloud accounts, as my wife and I have different accounts, but we keep all the photos together on the computer.
The ugly truth of the iCloud is that it sucks for family sharing, and most photographers cannot possibly take advantage of iCloud storage without a hefty monthly bill.
Once again, Apple screws over enthusiasts who use Aperture and delivers a mobile app to “replace” the formerly great Mac programs.
Thanks for nothing, Cook & Co.
I hope Photos doesn’t end up as worthless for library management as iTunes is now. ITunes started out as a world class music library manager. After 10,7 it became the total cluster f#ck for syncing and a store front. Now you have to mouse and scroll and pick one at a time ad nauseum.