Did you know that iTunes, for a reason that no one even understands today, does not allow you to import photos that are inside albums on the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad back to the computer, only those present on the Camera Roll?
Now imagine the situation: you set up several photo albums on your device to show your family and friends the images of that trip you made to Cacimbinhas, or of your boring cousin’s wedding. One fine day, your PC spoils and the only copies you have left are the ones on your device, luckily for you.
But how do you get them back?
Here’s a way to import your photos from iOS albums back, so you don’t lose them.
Photo albums
On the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, there are basically two ways to take photos on the device: either you take them with the camera of the device itself (by going to the so-called Camera Roll) or import it via the USB cable connected to the computer, creating photo albums. On the iPad, there is still the possibility to import photos via the Camera Connection Kit.
IOS 6 brought another way to import photos, through the photo sharing through the cloud. But we will talk about this in another tutorial.
If you transferred your photos from your computer to iOS, you will no longer be able to import them back to your computer. The same happens with songs that you transfer from the PC to the device.
A much more laborious solution would be to send one by one by email. But there are those who keep more than 2,000 photos inside the device (if true) and a more practical method is necessary.
Importing photos via Wi-Fi
Fortunately, some applications make it easier for those who need to take these photos back, creating a Wi-Fi connection between the device and the computer. There are several options, but we will talk here about a free solution on the App Store, called WiFi Photo Transfer.
It allows, when open, to access in a browser on the same Wi-Fi network as you are, all the photos on your device. The great advantage of this process is that it is multiplatform: it works on Windows, as well as on Mac and Linux. It is not necessary to install any extra programs on the computer.
See step-by-step instructions to recover your photos:
❖ Step 1: Installing the app
Install the application on your iPhone, iPod or iPad WiFi Photo Transfer (link). It is free.
❖ Step 2: Connecting to the computer via Wi-Fi
Open the app on your iPhone or iPad. The first thing that will appear will be an authorization request for the app to have access to the device’s photos. Touch OK.
You will then see a screen with a web address in the form of numbers. It is your way to access the photos on your computer. Go on your Windows or Mac (or Linux), open your browser preferred (Firefox or Chrome, for example) and enter that address, with all the dots that appear. The application must remain open to function.
Each address is different and will depend on the one that matches your device on the network. Do not copy the number in the image above, as it is very likely that the address will not be the same as yours. The image is only here as a reference, for everyone to understand how the process works.
If everything goes as planned, you will see a screen similar to this one:
There, your computer has established a wireless connection with the photos on your device. You can now start importing them.
❖ Step 3: Importing albums to your computer
With the mouse, click on the album you want to import. If you want to import more than one, repeat the process individually for each of them.
In the open album, you will see all the photos contained therein, exactly as they are inside the device. A blue button written “download in .zip”Allows you to transfer these same photos to your computer, compressed in ZIP.
By clicking on the button, a new page allows you to select the photos you want to import. If there are many, you can put a range of numbers for him to select for you (in the example below, from 1 to 5).
The problem with this automatic selection system is that it supports importing only 200 photos at a time. This means that if you have more photos to import, you will first have to import a group from photos 1 to 200, then a second batch of photos 201 to 400 and so on.
The ZIP files go to the Downloads folder of the browser or the system.
Unfortunately the application is in English, but this should not be a problem for most users. Just follow the steps outlined in this tutorial to easily import your photos.
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Read too: How to copy music and books from iPad and iPhone to computer
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