iCloud Photo Syncing Issue in IOS 17 and iPadOS 17

[antipodean]

Thanks. Cautiously, I would say reinstalling has fixed the problem. My photos have all synced down from iCloud to my iPhone (optimized size) and a photo I took this morning has synced up successfully. I did notice that the sync was a bit slow given my fast home WiFi, which has me a little concerned that all is not quite right. At least it is working to a fashion, which it was not doing before the reinstall.

Now I have to work out what is wrong with iCloud Photos on my MBP. Syncing isn't working and the system photo library seems broken somehow (repair doesn't complete). iCloud Photos working fine on my Mac mini, iPad mini and iPad Pro.

Just to update on the possibly related trouble I had with the MBP not syncing. I deleted Syndication.photoslibrary in ~/library/photos/libraries. The file was promptly regenerated (presumably by SIP) and Photos started working again. This also stopped photolibraryd from pegging a CPU core at 99% and using 30GB+ of memory.

Touch wood, all my photos and iCloud photos issues are sorted (at least for now).

 

[RockyMtnRed]

I finally had time, and I was frustrated enough to go to the internets to see who else was having these issues. I read this thread, and it seems the issues are varied, and the solutions are either fairly unacceptable or non-existent. I feel as if I can tie my sync issues back to the iOS 17.1 upgrade. I also don't think this is isolated to just iCloud backups. Something else is going on with camera/photos and/or connectivity, in general. Forgive the length of the post, but I want to be thorough and detailed about what I'm seeing because it's not just one issue.

Short Version

• I cannot immediately share photos via any method, e.g., text message or any other app. I find that I have to wait minutes or longer.
• Syncing photos to iCloud takes somewhere between hours and a day
• Google Photos is worse than normal, but still better than syncing to iCloud

Long Version

• iCloud sync of new photos takes forever. I can't be specific, but it's somewhere between a few hours and a day. I took about 20 photos 45 minutes ago, and the iCloud Photo sync status has been stuck at "Syncing..." since then. Rebooting or enabling/re-enabling sync does nothing to resolve the issue.
• I'm unable to take a picture and immediately share it - via any app. In other words, if I take a picture and want to immediately attach it to a text message, I cannot. I'm presented with the "Preparing..." pop-up up, and it eventually just times out with an "Unable to Share: There was an error while preparing to share. Please try again later." message. As of this morning, it seems that I only have to wait around 5 minutes to share a photo that I take. Before today, it seemed to take a lot longer.
• Google Photos. My iPhone 14 Pro is my first iPhone, and all of my life in pictures exists in Google Photos - a story for another day. My wife and kids have used iPhones forever, and I can speak to the fact that syncing Google Photos with an iPhone has always been buggy, often requiring a manual sync. It's no surprise that the iPhone and Google Photos app don't play nicely, but it seems to be even worse now (but oddly, BETTER than Apple Photos). While I experience the sync issues with Apple Photos above, it seems that Google Photos is more responsive, but it's still not great. Backing up still takes MUCH longer than it should. Where it would usually take a minute(s)/seconds to back up a handful of photos or videos, it now takes up to an hour for the same handful of photos. I do find that if I want to share a photo via text message quickly, for instance, I have a better chance of doing that via Google Photos than via Camera Roll or Apple Photos. A great example is that I can now see 7 of the 20 photos I captured around 45 minutes ago in Google Photos, whereas I see none in Photos on my Mac despite seeing the "Synced with iCloud just now" message.

My next steps
I'm opening a support case with Apple, and I'll follow their guidance. I suspect they'll have me do what many of you have been asked to do, but the more cases we open, the more likely this is to be resolved.

If anyone has any guidance beyond resetting my phone (arg), I'm all ears.

 

[EsbenMF]

tag

Just out of curiousity, try: Settings > Battery > Energysaving function, toggle off. (I don't have English language on my phone, so I'm not sure that "Energysaving function" is the correct naming of the function in english, but it's the second from the top).

I also had sync issues waiting forever, this solved the issues.

 

[ibookemo]

I finally had time, and I was frustrated enough to go to the internets to see who else was having these issues. I read this thread, and it seems the issues are varied, and the solutions are either fairly unacceptable or non-existent. I feel as if I can tie my sync issues back to the iOS 17.1 upgrade. I also don't think this is isolated to just iCloud backups. Something else is going on with camera/photos and/or connectivity, in general. Forgive the length of the post, but I want to be thorough and detailed about what I'm seeing because it's not just one issue.

Short Version

• I cannot immediately share photos via any method, e.g., text message or any other app. I find that I have to wait minutes or longer.
• Syncing photos to iCloud takes somewhere between hours and a day
• Google Photos is worse than normal, but still better than syncing to iCloud

Long Version

• iCloud sync of new photos takes forever. I can't be specific, but it's somewhere between a few hours and a day. I took about 20 photos 45 minutes ago, and the iCloud Photo sync status has been stuck at "Syncing..." since then. Rebooting or enabling/re-enabling sync does nothing to resolve the issue.
• I'm unable to take a picture and immediately share it - via any app. In other words, if I take a picture and want to immediately attach it to a text message, I cannot. I'm presented with the "Preparing..." pop-up up, and it eventually just times out with an "Unable to Share: There was an error while preparing to share. Please try again later." message. As of this morning, it seems that I only have to wait around 5 minutes to share a photo that I take. Before today, it seemed to take a lot longer.
• Google Photos. My iPhone 14 Pro is my first iPhone, and all of my life in pictures exists in Google Photos - a story for another day. My wife and kids have used iPhones forever, and I can speak to the fact that syncing Google Photos with an iPhone has always been buggy, often requiring a manual sync. It's no surprise that the iPhone and Google Photos app don't play nicely, but it seems to be even worse now (but oddly, BETTER than Apple Photos). While I experience the sync issues with Apple Photos above, it seems that Google Photos is more responsive, but it's still not great. Backing up still takes MUCH longer than it should. Where it would usually take a minute(s)/seconds to back up a handful of photos or videos, it now takes up to an hour for the same handful of photos. I do find that if I want to share a photo via text message quickly, for instance, I have a better chance of doing that via Google Photos than via Camera Roll or Apple Photos. A great example is that I can now see 7 of the 20 photos I captured around 45 minutes ago in Google Photos, whereas I see none in Photos on my Mac despite seeing the "Synced with iCloud just now" message.

My next steps
I'm opening a support case with Apple, and I'll follow their guidance. I suspect they'll have me do what many of you have been asked to do, but the more cases we open, the more likely this is to be resolved.

If anyone has any guidance beyond resetting my phone (arg), I'm all ears.

I’m actually delighted to see this post as I am experiencing the exact same problems with the most obvious being that I cannot share photos for a long time after taking them. Backing up to iCloud sometimes gets stuck inexplicable too.

The issues started when I moved to an iPhone 15 Pro Max and these are the most disruptive issues I’ve ever had in iOS - been using it since the second iPhone.

The issues are still present in iOS 17.2 beta 1. I’ve wiped my phone and reinstalled from scratch (app by app) and I’ve even swapped for a replacement iPhone 15 Pro Max…to no avail.

Funny data point for me is that when I switched back to an old model 14 Pro Max on the same iOS release the problems went away so, for me, it seems specifically attached to iPhone 15 (Pro Max). That could be an edge case point though, not sure.

I hope others flag this issue as it needs fixed big time. I filed a bug report back in September for the iOS beta but it is still an open issue FB13210816 (Sending photo stuck at ‘preparing’ stage).

My confidence in getting this fixed soon is getting lower as time goes on…almost a show stopper of a bug. I’ve honestly looked a little at Android as an alternative as a ‘fix’. Not at that stage quite yet thankfully.

 

[ibookemo]

Just out of curiousity, try: Settings > Battery > Energysaving function, toggle off. (I don't have English language on my phone, so I'm not sure that "Energysaving function" is the correct naming of the function in english, but it's the second from the top).

I also had sync issues waiting forever, this solved the issues.

I never had that on in the first place so that’s not a fix unfortunately.

 

[ibookemo]

Patiently awaiting iOS 17.2 beta 2 to see if a fix arrives. I’ll report back.

 

[RockyMtnRed]

Just out of curiousity, try: Settings > Battery > Energysaving function, toggle off. (I don't have English language on my phone, so I'm not sure that "Energysaving function" is the correct naming of the function in english, but it's the second from the top).

I also had sync issues waiting forever, this solved the issues.

Unfortunately, I've tried toggling that setting (it's currently off), but no luck. I'd hoped the 17.1.1 update would secretly resolve the issue, but it still remains. I haven't had time to reset my phone, but I think that's the next step, unfortunately.

 

[ibookemo]

Unfortunately, I've tried toggling that setting (it's currently off), but no luck. I'd hoped the 17.1.1 update would secretly resolve the issue, but it still remains. I haven't had time to reset my phone, but I think that's the next step, unfortunately.

Don’t bother - I’ve done so 2 times and the issue returns. It’s not your install, it’s iOS.

Honestly, save yourself the pain.

 

[RockyMtnRed]

That makes sense, actually. If this was just me, maybe it's a bad install. Other people as well? Not likely. Thanks for saving me the brain damage.

 

[ibookemo]

That makes sense, actually. If this was just me, maybe it's a bad install. Other people as well? Not likely. Thanks for saving me the brain damage.

No worries. It's definitely a combination of bugs that need fixed on Apple's side. The software they are producing is getting a bit sloppy bug-wise I think, particularly iOS

I feel kind of swindled after paying such a high price for my phone. All I want is for the software to be free of show-stopping bugs. I really wish I could put iOS 16 on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. That version of iOS turned out pretty well in the end.

I have a feeling it could take many months for iOS 17 to get to a really good place. Really, really hope that I'm wrong though.

If they fix the Photos/iCloud bugs I'll be over the moon - no joke.

 

[re5i5tor]

In the iOS 17 / iPadOS 17 / macOS 14 updates for me, for a while neither my Mac nor my iPad were syncing. The Mac started working at some point, but the iPad (now on 17.1.1) is very stuck, saying "Last Synced Saturday" ... I've checked network traffic on the iPad and it's very light, obviously not blasting photos up or down ...

When I go to turn off iCloud Photos (toggle it to kick start things), I get an interesting message: "iCloud Photos is Updating / To ensure all photos and videos are uploaded, allow the update to finish. / Stop Updating and Turn Off / Continue Updating" ...

I interpret this to mean, syncing is supposedly in process but is stuck ...

 

[ibookemo]

In the iOS 17 / iPadOS 17 / macOS 14 updates for me, for a while neither my Mac nor my iPad were syncing. The Mac started working at some point, but the iPad (now on 17.1.1) is very stuck, saying "Last Synced Saturday" ... I've checked network traffic on the iPad and it's very light, obviously not blasting photos up or down ...

When I go to turn off iCloud Photos (toggle it to kick start things), I get an interesting message: "iCloud Photos is Updating / To ensure all photos and videos are uploaded, allow the update to finish. / Stop Updating and Turn Off / Continue Updating" ...

I interpret this to mean, syncing is supposedly in process but is stuck ...

Also the other part of the problem as sometimes it is impossible to send a photo (via messages, airdrop, mail etc) after taking it for half an hour or more. It gets stuck on the ‘processing’ stage.

 

[ibookemo]

Well I just installed 17.2 beta 2 and can confirm that the issue where you cannot send a photo (via messages, airdrop, mail etc) after taking it for a period after taking it (or applying a 'paste' of edits to a number of photos) is still present.

At least on my first test it isn't fixed. Maybe some indexing is needed, who knows.

I'll report back if/when the iCloud sync issue pops up again.

 

[re5i5tor]

Also the other part of the problem as sometimes it is impossible to send a photo (via messages, airdrop, mail etc) after taking it for half an hour or more. It gets stuck on the ‘processing’ stage.

In the iOS 17 / iPadOS 17 / macOS 14 updates for me, for a while neither my Mac nor my iPad were syncing. The Mac started working at some point, but the iPad (now on 17.1.1) is very stuck, saying "Last Synced Saturday" ... I've checked network traffic on the iPad and it's very light, obviously not blasting photos up or down ...

When I go to turn off iCloud Photos (toggle it to kick start things), I get an interesting message: "iCloud Photos is Updating / To ensure all photos and videos are uploaded, allow the update to finish. / Stop Updating and Turn Off / Continue Updating" ...

I interpret this to mean, syncing is supposedly in process but is stuck ...

I went ahead and chose "Stop Updating", restarted the iPad, and re-enabled iCloud sync. This resulted in another interesting dialog: "iCloud Restore in Progress / iCloud Photos will begin syncing when this device has finished restoring from backup. / OK"

I interpret this to mean, "I'm really not feeling well ..." ;-)

 

[ht5pilot]

I have good news! My iCloud Photo syncing issues on both my iPhone and iPad have been resolved. I had originally started this thread back on September 30th after I upgraded from iPhone 13 Pro Max to iPhone 15 Pro. Believe you me, I had tried everything I could do to fix the problem before consulting with an Apple specialist. Alas, I called them up and a ticket was issued to me. My issue was escalated to Apple engineers, but I was never contacted by upper level except by Apple specialist to see if my issue was resolved.

So fast forward to today’s date of November 10th. Why is iCloud Photo working now? I can only speculate, but perhaps the Apple engineers corrected or reset something on their end. Or could it be the various updates we have been getting on iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 that fixed the iCloud Photo syncing bug? Or lastly, I had moved all my photos from iCloud to an external hard drive as well as on my laptop as backups and deleted all photos from the cloud. iCloud mentions I had 30 days to move all photos to a backup before these photos were going to be permanently removed from the cloud. I was figuring there was some photos that weren’t removed entirely when I made the transition from old iPhone to new iPhone. So I basically turned off iCloud Photo on both iPhone and iPad for 30 days hoping it would purge whatever was looming in iCloud Photos.

Anyway, I prayed and turned on iCloud Photo in settings on my iPhone. I was so elated to see the words “Synced with iCloud Just Now”. I prayed again and it did the same for my iPad. Bingo! So happy.

So I hope this helps and don’t ever give up.

 

[ibookemo]

I have good news! My iCloud Photo syncing issues on both my iPhone and iPad have been resolved. I had originally started this thread back on September 30th after I upgraded from iPhone 13 Pro Max to iPhone 15 Pro. Believe you me, I had tried everything I could do to fix the problem before consulting with an Apple specialist. Alas, I called them up and a ticket was issued to me. My issue was escalated to Apple engineers, but I was never contacted by upper level except by Apple specialist to see if my issue was resolved.

So fast forward to today’s date of November 10th. Why is iCloud Photo working now? I can only speculate, but perhaps the Apple engineers corrected or reset something on their end. Or could it be the various updates we have been getting on iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 that fixed the iCloud Photo syncing bug? Or lastly, I had moved all my photos from iCloud to an external hard drive as well as on my laptop as backups and deleted all photos from the cloud. iCloud mentions I had 30 days to move all photos to a backup before these photos were going to be permanently removed from the cloud. I was figuring there was some photos that weren’t removed entirely when I made the transition from old iPhone to new iPhone. So I basically turned off iCloud Photo on both iPhone and iPad for 30 days hoping it would purge whatever was looming in iCloud Photos.

Anyway, I prayed and turned on iCloud Photo in settings on my iPhone. I was so elated to see the words “Synced with iCloud Just Now”. I prayed again and it did the same for my iPad. Bingo! So happy.

So I hope this helps and don’t ever give up.

That’s great news, happy days. I have my Photos app syncing too no problem now. Still have the other issue with photos stuck on the ‘processing’ dialogue when trying to send them via messages, airdrop, mail etc though.

 

[ht5pilot]

That’s great news, happy days. I have my Photos app syncing too no problem now. Still have the other issue with photos stuck on the ‘processing’ dialogue when trying to send them via messages, airdrop, mail etc though.

Did you ever talk to an Apple specialist or get a ticket to have your issue looked at?

 

[ibookemo]

Did you ever talk to an Apple specialist or get a ticket to have your issue looked at?

I’ve created 2 bug reports for iOS 17 with Apple Developer Feedback which are currently open.

 

[Rodan52]

All seems to be working now on iOS/iPadOS 17.1.1 at least for me. 1min 42secs for a photo taken on iPhone SE2 to appear on M1 MBP and iPad 6th gen.

 

[ibookemo]

All seems to be working now on iOS/iPadOS 17.1.1 at least for me. 1min 42secs for a photo taken on iPhone SE2 to appear on M1 MBP and iPad 6th gen.

That’s superb 👌🏻 Still have the other issue with photos stuck on the ‘processing’ dialogue when trying to send them via messages, airdrop, mail etc though.

 

[Easttime]

Updated to iPhone 15 and iOS 17 around same time. iPhone and Mac photos sync fine. For past month iPad Photos sync not working. Tried most of these fix attempts and nothing works. Next step tech support.

UPDATE: Before calling support, I wiped the iPad and let it set up from my nearby iPhone including restore from a backup made earlier that day. Photos is now fully in sync. Turned out to be very easy process. Hope it holds.

 

[Smith166]

Short Version

• I cannot immediately share photos via any method, e.g., text message or any other app. I find that I have to wait minutes or longer.
• Syncing photos to iCloud takes somewhere between hours and a day
• Google Photos is worse than normal, but still better than syncing to iCloud

Long Version

• iCloud sync of new photos takes forever. I can't be specific, but it's somewhere between a few hours and a day. I took about 20 photos 45 minutes ago, and the iCloud Photo sync status has been stuck at "Syncing..." since then. Rebooting or enabling/re-enabling sync does nothing to resolve the issue.
• I'm unable to take a picture and immediately share it - via any app. In other words, if I take a picture and want to immediately attach it to a text message, I cannot. I'm presented with the "Preparing..." pop-up up, and it eventually just times out with an "Unable to Share: There was an error while preparing to share. Please try again later." message. As of this morning, it seems that I only have to wait around 5 minutes to share a photo that I take. Before today, it seemed to take a lot longer.
• My next steps

I'm opening a support case with Apple, and I'll follow their guidance. I suspect they'll have me do what many of you have been asked to do, but the more cases we open, the more likely this is to be resolved.

If anyone has any guidance beyond resetting my phone (arg), I'm all ears.

I have exactly the same issue with my iPhone 14 Pro. It's very annoying since iOS 17. I had to restart my phone twice a day which is totally unacceptable.
Thank you so much for summarise the issue, please tell me where I can open a support case, please? I found the "feedback" form where I can send a bugreport, but I'm almost 100% sure it's going to nowhere and nobody will taking care my problem.

https://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone/ ???

 

[i5Js]

Hi,

I'm happy to see I'm not the only one. My iPhone 13 pro, iPhone X, iPhone 12 mini, and AppleTV 4k all have the same problem. I've also opened a support case with Apple for a while without any luck. All the combinations I tried didn't work, even with the iPhone X, which I set up as a new iPhone and just logged into my iCloud account.

However, it seems the issue has been fixed with iOS17 beta 4, because the iPhone 12 mini synced all the photos, and the Appletv downloaded them too with the last tvOS beta.

Let's hope they release 17.2 soon

Regards

 

[i5Js]

I have just updated the iPhone 13 pro to 17.1.2 and it seems they fixed the issue, because now the synchronization works.

 

[i5Js]

I have spoken too fast, it doesn’t work