Problem with import from iPhone to LRC

[MartinWes]

I'm using Lightroom Classic 14.1 on macOS Sonoma 14.7.2  I'm trying to import photos and videos from my iPhone 14 Pro/iOS 18.0.  The import process never ends.  What happens is:

• Start the import process to import ~1000 items from my iPhone attached directly via USB-C Lightning cable.  The destination folder is one which Lightroom has successfully imported photos from my SD card.
• At the start of the import process, previews for a few photos are displayed initially and then none until I cancel the import.
• After a few minutes, the progress bar shows no progress.
• If I cancel the import process, an error is displayed. "The following files were not imported because they could not be read or the destination is not writable (1)"
  • The error shows a number of video files that could not be imported.  In this example, these files are 452,659,828MB.
• Over several imports, videos over 1GB in size have been imported from the iPhone, so sizeof the .MOV files doesn't seem to be the issue.
• The error is misleading because the destination is writable because 100s of photos have been imported in previous attempts. I have checked all permissions in MacOS and all is as it should. 

For  whatever reason, the import process gets stuck when importing certain videos. For example, I let one import attempt go for about 2.5 hours. Over several import attempts, I've been able to get most of the 1000 items imported.  But in total, it's taken me hours to do so when it should have taken me a fraction of the time. It gets stuck when it encounters an error and the only way to see the error is to cancel the import.  As a user, I don't know if progress is really taking a long time or whether it's stuck.

My walkaround today was to use "image capture", the built in MacOS-app that allows you to import to folder. It also got stuck on a .MOV file, without an error other than "your phone was disconnected during import". There is no problem with my cable or connector. I just selected the file below the .MOV file that caused the problem and it could without any problems import the rest. 

My thought are that once LRC identifies a problem with a file it will not import files as it should. Even though I unselected the .MOV file that where the problem. 

[craig.lonie]

I use apple `photos to import all my Iphone images directly to the cloud when the appear on my Apple photos app, if i want to edit them i export to a folder on my mac prefrably a external Hd, because these are the good photos (this is  the same process as my Canon camera ) i then have ave a safe copy of my image i then import these into LR and edit anyway i want.to get them back on your phone simply import with apple photos app and they will tunn up with icloud sync 

I am assuming you using Icloud. please tell me you are. 

[MartinWes]

Hi Craig. 

Thank you for providing another walk around than mine, but my question is if this is a bug in LRC and if more people are experiencing the same problem. 

Typically I do this 1-2 times per year and normally around 2000 pictures every time. The export that you are suggesting is not ideal using those amout of pictures and it will also use more than the included icloud storage. But it´s a good idea for a smaller number of pictures.

[MindStormPhoto]

I have your same problem with the same components (iPhone 14 Pro running iOS 18.1.1).  I came here hoping to find a fix. So far, nada... 😞 

FWIW, I do NOT use iCloud at all (other than password chain). Too expensive for WAY too little value.

[Aleke]

Hi @MindStormPhoto!

Could you provide a bit more info about the issue? What version of LrC are you using?

If you haven't done this yet, I recommend checking if Lightroom Classic has Full Disk Access on your Mac. Due to privacy reasons, macOS requires users to manually give permissions to each app for it to work properly. You can find out how to do that here:

https://adobe.ly/3ZQrUT6

Thanks!
Alek

[MartinWes]

Hi AlekRB. 
Do you have any thoughts on my original post. All information you asked Mindstormphoto are provided in my post. 

[stephanie de leng]

I have tried everything and nothing works. I enabled full disk access on my mac, no change..  Is this a bug? it iused to work importing from my iphone seamlessly 

[Aleke]

Hi @MartinWes @stephanie de leng!

Could you double-check the destination volume and path you're trying to import to? Please post that here. Also, have you checked the box labeled "Make a Second Copy..."? If you have, does that path exist? That warning message can also refer to the "Make a Second Copy..." volume.

Let me know how it goes. Thanks!

Alek

[stephanie de leng]

Hi,

I tried and adobe help trued importing to many places including pictures and my desktop and creating new folders. Nothing worked. Then they reset LR abd lots of other things, including cleaning. Then they disconnected use of my computer. The whole time the agent was on another call so I entered my password to give permissions for certain actions. I could not speak to him but I got a case number which ends soon. Whatever he did had not affect. I imported on my old iMac no problem. So I am now trying to organise all the stuff and delete what’s not needed and the I’ll turn on syncing on both computers and hopefully I will have the good stuff in the right folders. In the meantime iPhones 18.2.1 update has messed my photos up. They need to revert to the way it was. All I have is a huge library which includes photos from my folders that I created on my Mac all mixed up and it is impossible to find anything. I need the recent folder back that contains ONLY the photos I took with the iPhone which I have not sorted yet. Instead I have a mess from different cameras all mixed in with iPhone photos recent and past. I can’t make head or tail of it.
Sent from my phone

[Aleke]

Hi @stephanie de leng! I'm sorry to hear our customer support team couldn't assist.

If you're still looking for an alternative, and you have Lightroom Mobile for iOS, you could try syncing it with Lightroom Classic. This way, the photos on your iPhone will automatically import into Lightroom Classic. You can find more details here: https://adobe.ly/3WkDpRJ

Hope this helps. Thanks!

Alek