Image edited in Apple Photos app with Clean Up looks different than on Lightroom

Hello again @thomaschev 

A developer confirmed this is expected behavior for the current design of the app.  When it comes to raw and DNG images, LR iOS assumes the user will want to import and edit the higher quality raw version of the image, vs a lower quality JPG/HEIF rendition that has previous edits applied.  

If edits are applied by iOS Photos.app (Clean Up changes or even simple adjustments), edit metadata is not available for Lightroom to recreate the same appearance for raw images.  If LR imported the flattened JPG/HEIF rendition, not all the original raw image data would be available.  That approach disagrees with Lightroom's general approach of using non-destructive editing.

You might notice that this issue you highlight doesn't occur for HEIF images -- this is because LR believes it is importing the original image when the iOS platform is deliving a HEIF rendition with edits applied into a flattened rendition.  

One workaround for Raw and DNG images with edits from Photos.app applied: open a specific image in Photos app, and use the iOS Share menu to "Edit in Lightroom."  This will send the flattened JPEG or HEIF image instead of the original Raw or DNG into Lightroom.

Your post raises an interesting question: would it be useful to offer users the choice inside of Lightroom to import originals or edited versions of Raw images.  If you would like to see that option, could you write that request as a new post and tag it as an Idea -- other users can then vote on it, to signal interest to Product Mgmt

Hi @thomaschev 

Thanks for asking about this.  I can reproduce the issue as your screen video shows, when I use DNG and Raw images.  However, HEIF images from the iPhone camera do import with CLean Up edits preserved.

Let me ping the LR Dev team to ask if this is a bug or known/expected behavior.