Can I now remove iPhotos

[pja2536]

Hi!

I have just completed the up-date to OS-X 10.10.3 and now have BOTH iPhoto AND the new Photos app. I never used iPhotos as I moved all my photos over from my Windows PC when I did the switch to Mac. iPhotos seemed to pick up some of my photos collection but not all of it. The contents of iPhotos seems to have been migrated to Photos. Photos now contains only part of whats actually stored in my "Pictures" directory.

Personally, I don't want either iPhotos or Photos. I like the idea of managing my photos under Finder and I use the app Acorn to do any photo manipulation I need.

Now to the crux of my post - CAN I DELETE iPHOTOS WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS?

Regards,
Peter

 

[aevan]

Sure. If you don't use either, erase away. If you used iPhoto to store some photos you want to keep, first make sure you moved your photo library from iPhoto to Photos. You can then delete the iPhoto library alongside iPhoto app, just make sure you don't delete the new Photos Library by accident (that is, if you need it at all).

 

[pja2536]

Sure. If you don't use either, erase away...

Aevan,

Thanks for the quick reply. I have deleted iPhotos and the Photos app Library (which seemed to contain copies of some of the content of my "Pictures" library. I have recovered a huge amount of space and have all my original pictures.

I'll think about deleting the new Photos app. It does not yet appear in the Mac App Store if for some reason I want it in the future.

Regards,
Peter

 

[KALLT]

I'll think about deleting the new Photos app. It does not yet appear in the Mac App Store if for some reason I want it in the future.

I don’t think it will. Photos is just another default app on OS X. However, it’s just ~50 MB in size. That’s hardly worth the effort.

 

[Sym0]

When I moved from PC to mac I had a folder structure like you in windows but I just imported the whole lot to iPhoto because it maintained a folder structure anyway. If you double click on the iPhoto library file you'll find its just a special bunch of hidden folders that contains the very same files you imported.

In other words if you want to trudge through a million folders looking for something so be it, but iPhoto made it much more manageable and still kept your original folders intact, just hidden on the iPhoto library icon.

 

[pja2536]

...if you want to trudge through a million folders looking for something so be it, but iPhoto made it much more manageable and still kept your original folders intact, just hidden on the iPhoto library icon.

I'm pleased that iPhotos works for you. I like something simpler and am happy with the way I manage my photos. I'm a recent returnee to Macs and iPads and was just trying to get some technical information about how these apps work. IMHO apps like iPhotos, iTunes and now Photos are simply overkill. Like my photos, I have a very large collection of MP3 files and the Vox app does a much better job than iTunes. Note, this is my personal view and I don't care what others do or prefer- that's their choice.

Regards,
Peter

 

[whsbuss]

Why is iPhoto even still available as an app? Once you convert to Photos app its useless.

 

[aevan]

Aevan,

I'll think about deleting the new Photos app. It does not yet appear in the Mac App Store if for some reason I want it in the future.

Regards,
Peter

No reason to delete the Photos app (not sure even if you can). It doesn't take too much space and you don't have to use it. But it is part of the OS now, so who knows why it might create problems to delete it.

 

[pja2536]

Why is iPhoto even still available as an app? Once you convert to Photos app its useless.

Thanks for that. I'm trying to pick up as much as I can about OA-X AND iOS

Regards,
Peter

 

[smizzle]

Why is iPhoto even still available as an app? Once you convert to Photos app its useless.

Well I think they left it to give people the option to switch back if they mess around with Photos and prefer iPhoto better.

Here's my issue: My iPhoto and Photos library files are listed as being around the same size, around 110 GB, but my computer has the same exact amount of free space as it did before I upgraded. Shouldn't I have about 110 GB less after making the Photos library? Is there really a whole new library on my computer, or is Photos still linking to the pics in my iPhoto library? I'm afraid to delete my iPhoto library until I can figure that out.

 

[Vanoord]

Why is iPhoto even still available as an app? Once you convert to Photos app its useless.

Unless you happen to prefer using iPhoto instead of Photos.

In which case, it's far from useless.

----------

Well I think they left it to give people the option to switch back if they mess around with Photos and prefer iPhoto better.

Here's my issue: My iPhoto and Photos library files are listed as being around the same size, around 110 GB, but my computer has the same exact amount of free space as it did before I upgraded. Shouldn't I have about 110 GB less after making the Photos library? Is there really a whole new library on my computer, or is Photos still linking to the pics in my iPhoto library? I'm afraid to delete my iPhoto library until I can figure that out.

The original images exist once on your computer, but they are pointed to by both the iPhoto and the Photos library - i.e. they *appear* to be in two places, but it's only the pointers that are duplicated.

You should be able to delete the iPhoto library without any issues, but it will free up virtually no space - so there's no particular benefit in doing so.

If you're absolutely sure that you never want to use iPhoto ever, ever again, then delete the library. Otherwise, leave it unless you're really stuck for space.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Rather than delete both the iPhoto and Photos applications, you might consider just deleting their respective libraries, and "let the applications be" in your applications folder.

If you do this, you will save the space that the libraries took up, but keep the apps "preserved and available" in case you ever decide to change your mind...

 

[smizzle]

Unless you happen to prefer using iPhoto instead of Photos.

In which case, it's far from useless.

----------



The original images exist once on your computer, but they are pointed to by both the iPhoto and the Photos library - i.e. they *appear* to be in two places, but it's only the pointers that are duplicated.

You should be able to delete the iPhoto library without any issues, but it will free up virtually no space - so there's no particular benefit in doing so.

If you're absolutely sure that you never want to use iPhoto ever, ever again, then delete the library. Otherwise, leave it unless you're really stuck for space.

OK, that makes sense. Thanks so much for clearing that up!

 

[diesel]

OP:

Rather than delete both the iPhoto and Photos applications, you might consider just deleting their respective libraries, and "let the applications be" in your applications folder.

If you do this, you will save the space that the libraries took up, but keep the apps "preserved and available" in case you ever decide to change your mind...

As I am new to the mac world (having converted from windows), what specific iPhoto libraries/folders (path) do you recommend that I delete if I want to get rid of the pictures that I have within iPhoto. Thanks.

 

[Fishrrman]

[[ As I am new to the mac world (having converted from windows), what specific iPhoto libraries/folders (path) do you recommend that I delete if I want to get rid of the pictures that I have within iPhoto. ]]

In your home folder, you should see another folder named "Pictures".
Open it.

iPhoto:
You should see a file named "iPhoto Library"
Drag this to the trash and empty the trash.

Photos:
(note: I'm writing this on an older MacBook at the moment, the name may be wrong)
You should also see a file named "Photos Library" (or something similar)
Drag this to the trash and empty the trash.

Note:
The two "files" you are deleting are -more than- just files.
They are actually folders that hold a lot of information, "disguised" as files for simplicity.
You can see the contents within them by right-clicking and choosing the option to "Show Package Contents".

IMPORTANT:
Be aware that once you trash these, if any pics were in them that ARE NOT saved elsewhere, they will probably be gone for good...

 

[diesel]

[[ As I am new to the mac world (having converted from windows), what specific iPhoto libraries/folders (path) do you recommend that I delete if I want to get rid of the pictures that I have within iPhoto. ]]

In your home folder, you should see another folder named "Pictures".
Open it.

iPhoto:
You should see a file named "iPhoto Library"
Drag this to the trash and empty the trash.

Photos:
(note: I'm writing this on an older MacBook at the moment, the name may be wrong)
You should also see a file named "Photos Library" (or something similar)
Drag this to the trash and empty the trash.

Note:
The two "files" you are deleting are -more than- just files.
They are actually folders that hold a lot of information, "disguised" as files for simplicity.
You can see the contents within them by right-clicking and choosing the option to "Show Package Contents".

IMPORTANT:
Be aware that once you trash these, if any pics were in them that ARE NOT saved elsewhere, they will probably be gone for good...

Thanks!!! I deleted the iPhotos library and will just keep the iPhoto app for the next several months and see if there is a real need for it. If not, i'll delete that app as well sometime in the future.

 

[Redsfan]

Just did our update:

-We have Photo, but I don't see iPhoto on the dock anymore, it shows on the launchpad but with a blue dot?
-No reboots so far
-Not running hot yet...but only a few minutes since

Using a MBPR, 2014 256