P: (android): Import from external SD card directly

[stevenb16653651]

I want to be able to browse photos on an external SD card reader and import directly to the phone.
Currently, when I plug an SD card adapter into the phone and open Lightroom it sends me an error telling me it needs to re-sync my files, if I manage to work around this and select add photos to a collection, it doesn't offer the external card reader as an option. Instead it offers you a choice of the phone and internal microSD based picture folders. Please give me the ability to add files through the file browser so that I don't have to copy things to the phone in order to then import to lightroom. 
Also please sort out the syncing issue so that plugging an external drive in doesnt intefere with the presence of my offline collections.

[Klickflip]

+1 . Currently on iPad I have to import from sd card reader to Camera Roll , then import into LM
-I actually have LM set to import new photos automatically , which helps . But LM has to be open to work, it won’t import in the background . - this would be neat.

Also this ends up with 2 copies of my raw files , taking up twice the space .
So I shoot 50gb on a shoot I’ll have 100gb used on iPad
Yes I know I can delete them , However at least I know I can back them up from camera roll if needed by a usb cable and Mac.

One thing to note is as soon as a card is plugged in , IOS opens photos and prompts to import .
So imagine this may be a on IOS thing , but surely adobe coders can get round this .

A tip to speed this up on iPad Pro is .
1. Open LM , set the album / folder to auto import new images from camera roll .
2. Drag photos app onto 2nd app floating screen over LM full window .
3. Plugin card reader and card
4. Start to import to camera roll
5- as soon as images are imported to camera roll , they will be imported into LM .

Otherwise you just use Photos full screen app , you’ll have to wait until they are all imported then , open LM , and only then will LM start to auto import .
And if you leave photos to go to LM early , photos will stop the import while you are not on its app.
So this floating app method works best.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

+1, I want to be able to import on my Chromebook directly from SD card. Not sure why this is not available. Seems pretty basic. 

[zd_project]

Any update on this? Would like to see if newer iOS version opens up the possibility now.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

I'm still waiting for this Adobe.... UP UP UP UP

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

It's already there on Android, has been for a long time. And it's been on iOS since the last release.

[Isaahc Rice]

One of the promises of Lightroom CC is to be able to view and edit your original photos anywhere and on any device. So it only makes sense to be able to import from your DSLR anywhere and on any device. The necessary framework is already built into Android's native file picker via at least, and I'm assuming iOS has the capability as well so it wouldn't be all that much work.

Think how great this will be in the future when DSLRs will have (hopefully) added their own USB-C ports. You won't even need an SD card dongle, just one cable to use with any device to import your photos anywhere.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Looks like there's already a lot of threads with this topic the past years but the continueous lack of it is bothersome. Please Adobe... kindly allow me to import RAW files from an external SD card. Thanks!

[stevenb16653651]

If this is there for android it doesnt work. Based on adobe releasing this for ios in the past month I suppose android should get it in a few years. 

[stevenb16653651]

This has been updated in the past month or so apparently. We should now be able to do a direct import into the ios lightroom

[stevenb16653651]

Someone above says this has been possible on android for ages. I disagree, as I've just tested again, and I still can't do it. However, I did spot a adobe sneak peak on youtube yesterday. It announced the imminent release of this feature for ios. Which is now out (the video was from Nov2019). But I havent actually tested it yet, as normally prefer android. However, will be getting a lightning adapter so I can try.

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

I last tested with an OTG adapter and a camera on Android a while back and it worked ok. How are you trying? How far do you get?

[stevenb16653651]

I have a sandisk sd card reader into a usb-usb C adapter and into the phone. The SD card is identified as an external disk. But in lightroom I select add photos, swap to device folders and cannot find anything from the sd card. I just reinstalled lightroom. So the version of the app should be completely up to date

[stevenb16653651]

Ok. Just tried an alternative. It does work. If I ignore lightroom. Go to my folder explorer, into the SD card, select a photo(s) and click share, and add to lightroom.

[stevenb16653651]

So nothing like how it looks like it will work in IOS. But cool. Am happy with that solution,