Changing auto-number on iPhone Camera

[Ambrosia7177]

Hello.

I have an iPhone 6S Plus and when I take a picture, iOS create auto-generated filename like "IMG_4273.JPG"

The problem is that that only gives me 10,000 unique filenames, and last year alone I took 30,000 pictures with my iPhone.

Is there a way to change the auto-number?

I would prefer an auto-number that is at least 6 digits long (e.g. "IMG_004273.JPG").

Thanks.

 

[DeltaMac]

hmm.... In your current setup, what is the next name generated after "IMG_9999.JPG"?
Does it reset to repeat the same 10,000 numbers (with no other changes), or is another character added to the file name after the 9999 (similar to the Finder in macOS?)

 

[Ambrosia7177]

hmm.... In your current setup, what is the next name generated after "IMG_9999.JPG"?

As far as I know, it cycles back to "IMG_0000.JPG" or "IMG_0001.JPG".

Does it reset to repeat the same 10,000 numbers (with no other changes), or is another character added to the file name after the 9999 (similar to the Finder in macOS?)

I'll have to verify this for sure, but as far as I know the unverse of values is "IMG_0001.JPG" to "IMG_9999.JPG"

(I definitely know I have a similar issue with my Nikon DSLR...)

 

[Ambrosia7177]

@DeltaMac,

Did some digging, and have indeed confirmed that my iPhone's "odometer" resets after the 10,000th photo.

Because I had my directories sorta by "Name", it took me a while to figure things out, but when I sorted by "Date Modified" is can now see...


"IMG_9999.JPG" Sept 25, 2019 @ 7:49AM
"IMG_0001.JPG" Sept 25, 2019 @ 7:49AM


So back to my original question...

Is there a way to make it so the filename goes from something like "IMG_000001.JPG" to "IMG_999999.JPG"?


Otherwise, I have to manually rename well over 100,000 photos or run the risk that collissions mess things up.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

@DeltaMac,

Guess you haven't found anything, and based on my research it is not possible to increase the range for filenames.

Apple needs to catch up with the times, because taking 10,000 pictures these days is nothing!

 

[Erehy Dobon]

You would have to renumber the files after you download them to your computer. There are utilities that do this.

An Automator script could handle this, someone has probably written one if you use something like a search engine.

For sure, there are UNIX shell scripts that can handle this, probably using sed, awk, perl and similar.

No need to reinvent the wheel. I'll leave it to you to STFW.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

You would have to renumber the files after you download them to your computer. There are utilities that do this.

An Automator script could handle this, someone has probably written one if you use something like a search engine.

For sure, there are UNIX shell scripts that can handle this, probably using sed, awk, perl and similar.

No need to reinvent the wheel.

I had notes somewhere of how to do mass file renaming but I forget where.

I think I can do all of this in Finder but I have to find my notes.

Either way, it stupid that Apple has an "odometer" that only goes to 10,000...

What a PITA...

 

[DeltaMac]

Although the issue doesn't affect some folks at all (I checked on my iPhone. 148 pictures in 5 years - total - I don't take many photo opportunities!) - wouldn't that lead you to find other methods to rename your picture files to something more useful than the original auto-generated filenames?
(Ah, Erehy Dobon had a similar thought, quicker than I...)

 

[Erehy Dobon]

Either way, it stupid that Apple has an "odometer" that only goes to 10,000...

It's not just Apple. This is an industry standard:

https://www.jeita.or.jp/english/standard/html/1_4.html

known as JEITA specification (number CP-3461) which is why the images from your dSLR have the same naming convention as those from Apple's iPhone.

In fact, if you plug an iPhone into a Windows computer (that doesn't have iTunes), it'll simply show up as a camera with the same directory structure as a digital P&S camera from fifteen years ago or an SD card from a digital camera.