MacOS Photos

[Manzana]

Are Mojave and Catalina Photo App libraries really not compatible? I copied my Photos library from my laptop running Catalina to a network share and tried to use it with a Mac Pro (Mojave) and it doesn't work.

Anyone experience this? When I try to open it asks to please update Photos App???

 

[Dave Braine]

When I try to open it asks to please update Photos App???

That's probably because the Photos Library that you transferred from the Catalina Mac was created by a newer version of Photos than the one on your Mojave Mac. Photos won't open a Library created with the newer version.

iTunes works the same way.

 

[smirking]

Anyone experience this? When I try to open it asks to please update Photos App???

It's not asking to update the Photos app. It's asking to update the Photos library from Mojave. The libraries aren't compatible. It needs to be updated if you want to use it in Catalina so if you still need to use it on Mojave, don't convert it yet.

Be aware that it can take a LONG time to update too. I migrated a 200GB library to a 2018 MBA running Catalina recently and the MBA took over an hour to convert it. It may have been as long as 2 hours. Make sure you do not quit in the middle of the update. I did because it was taking too long and it corrupted the entire MBA filesystem. I had to wipe the drive and reinstall the OS.

 

[Dave Braine]

It's not asking to update the Photos app. It's asking to update the Photos library from Mojave. The libraries aren't compatible. It needs to be updated if you want to use it in Catalina so if you still need to use it on Mojave, don't convert it yet.

As I read it, he's trying to use the Photos Library created on his Catalina Mac on his Mojave Mac, and as it's an older version of Photos, it won't work, which is why it's asking to update Photos.

 

[smirking]

As I read it, he's trying to use the Photos Library created on his Catalina Mac on his Mojave Mac, and as it's an older version of Photos, it won't work, which is why it's asking to update Photos.

Oh yeah, you're right.

 

[jparker402]

Hmm. I went from Mojave to Catalina, and don't remember having to do anything with Photos. Wonder why?

 

[Manzana]

What a disaster. It is indeed the case that when you try to open a Photos Library updated by Catalina it makes it no longer accessible by Mojave. Ok, I would understand if I was trying to open it on an ancient system, say High Sierra but I guess Apple does what Apple does.

Part of the reason may be the iCloud functionality. This allows for an iCloud photo library that is cloud based to be accessed by Mojave, Catalina, iOS etc.
For sure that is nice feature if you have 2TB iCloud storage.
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Hmm. I went from Mojave to Catalina, and don't remember having to do anything with Photos. Wonder why?

you don't actually have to do anything. the library just gets "updated" (breaks it for any other MacOS)
My library was actually created by MacOS Mavericks and just kept getting updated...and I seem to remember it would play nice with other MacOS's, this is no longer the case. If I recall, it used to be that the library would simply "update/optimize" for the MacOS you were on.

 

[Dave Braine]

Ok, I would understand if I was trying to open it on an ancient system, say High Sierra

It's not the version of MacOS that is the problem, but the version of Photos that comes with it. I've not had the problem with Photos, but it's been an "issue" with iTunes for many years.

 

[D.T.]

I guess if I were trying to backwards migrate the data, I'd use iCloud to sort of "launder" the data - i.e., setup Photos on the Pro, in Mojave, setup iCloud photos on both, choose the "Full resolution on Mac" option, buy some storage, sync up, disconnect ... [?]

 

[Manzana]

I guess if I were trying to backwards migrate the data, I'd use iCloud to sort of "launder" the data - i.e., setup Photos on the Pro, in Mojave, setup iCloud photos on both, choose the "Full resolution on Mac" option, buy some storage, sync up, disconnect ... [?]

"launder the data"
that is the perfect term! and that is precisely what I had to end up doing

 

[Manzana]

It's not the version of MacOS that is the problem, but the version of Photos that comes with it. I've not had the problem with Photos, but it's been an "issue" with iTunes for many years.

technically yes, it is the version of Photos. so I was thinking of upgrading the photos app but this cannot be done as the OS is what limits what version of the app you can run.

Photos 4.0 for Mojave and Photos 5.0 for Catalina. Can't speak to iTunes because it is dead in Catalina. Also, we were never asked to manage multiple Photos libraries, so apple actually conditioned us to this only to pull the rug.
See this technical sheet. We were never asked to do this with our music files. in fact we could keep folder structure and just import metadata into iTunes. So I feel this comparison of iTunes and Photos is apples to oranges (or photos to mp3 if u will)

anyway, who cares. I've "laundered my data" and going forward I would like to think that I will export the originals (but then I would lose slideshows/albums/etc) and move them to a new platform...maybe Adobe.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Note, if the library in question is your iCloud Library, and you have updated to Catalina standard but want to run it on Mojave, you can just delete the library and reload a new one from iCloud, while in Mojave. You will end up with a Mojave version of the same library.