Lightroom Mobile for iOS should support background sync. Currently, the app only syncs when opened but stops when switching to another iOS app or the display starts to sleep. This makes the workflow less than optimised and required unnecessary user attention. Please consider implementing this functionality.
I completely agree with Marc. Lightroom Mobile background sync is a must-have. And if someone doesn't want it, they could turn it off, either in iOS settings (Background App Refresh), or maybe Adobe could build it as a selectable feature.
I tried Lr Mobile's Auto Add photos when it first was available, but never used it beyond testing because I couldn't control where Lr stored the mobile images on my desktop. It defaulted to my boot drive and there was no way to change it. Moving the photos manually was too much of a hassle, so I went back to using another iOS app that uploaded iPhone photos to my NAS server automatically. However, that app had its own problems and I have been eager to get away from it.
With the most recent release of Lightroom allowing us to store our Lr Mobile photos wherever we want, it seemed I was back in business with the Auto Add Photo feature. Now I come to discover that Lr Mobile only syncs when the app is open and the iPhone not locked. Really? Of all the apps that backup your iPhone photos to a cloud somewhere...seems all of them work in the background.
Lightroom is the cornerstone of my photo world, so I'm going to suck it up for now and keep using Lr Mobile to add my iPhone photos to my Lr catalog, but Adobe, PLEASE give us background syncing (background app refresh on iOS). It will make life so much easier for those of us relying heavily on Lr Mobile!
+1 for this. At least to have it as an option that is opt-in only. That would ensure nobody's data plan is savaged by accidental downloads, but users who know their own usage caps can take advantage of this.
This would also closely mimic the native iCloud Photo Library functionality.
In Australia we have max 2mbs upload speeds from home cable internet. It takes ages to upload even one photo. I can't leave my phone one long enough to upload a days worth. It is insane not to have it upload in the background. Really disappointing, as I love using the mobile app to take and manipulate raw photos on the go.
Please make the background sync work. You have already added the “background sync” option switch to iPhone settings, but we still have to leave iPhone on charger with display on in order to sync. This is unacceptable with new iPhone X AMOLED screen, it burns out! And you did not introduce the coding to make the “home bar” disappear
My (limited) expertise tells me that this is not an Adobe issue but an iOS issue. I don't think iOS allows non-Apple apps to "self-initiate." It requires manual launching, but CAN continue to operate in the background once launched. I don't know for how long it can remain running in the background.
I was really disappointed this wasn’t an option. I am transitioning from Google Photos to Lightroom and was a bit shocked my photos wouldn’t update in the background.
For previous posters: this is possible on iOS. Traditionally it’s done by allowing Location Services (which Lightroom already asks permission for). Once allowed, an app can register to be notified of coarse changes in location, which allows the app some time to run. When this happens the app checks for and then uploads new pictures. In my experience, it was enough to keep your photos updated automatically even when just going about your day.
I hope Adobe considers adding this. It’s a major flaw.
And while at it, please also enable auto-import in the background. It would be nice if Lightroom would import & sync everything in the background so that you just have to clear out your camera roll every now and then and you're set.
This is crazy how it cannot sync in the background or while the device is asleep. Dropbox has been able to do this for almost a decade... All the other cloud applications work just fine - why not Adobe?
Agree. I just completed a survey from Adobe about our Lightroom use and put this as the Number One complaint/need for improvement in the product. However, still not sure this is under Adobe's control. It might be that Apple is preventing Adobe from competing with its iCloud-linked products (which do sync in the background).
Indeed, other apps can do it without issue. The should also implement split screen and slide over, which could allow LR to remain open and still use other apps...
Well, he's one way to look at it Adobe. I just plain won't use Lightroom unless you implement this feature. I recently took over 200 photos and had to wait three days for them to sync to my desktop app. That's ridiculous.
Any news on this ? Uploaded around 100 RAWs , woke up at morning hoping it would be all uploaded on CC , but only 3 pictures got trough when checked on other devices . Than looked at ipad seeing 3% uploaded ....
Here it is Feb 2024 and Adobe hasn't addressed this. I am going to assume they don't care but it does seem like an important feature to me. When synching LR mobile with the cloud on my ipad it renders my ipad useless since the sync speed is so slow and i'm on fiber.
I know my sync speed will be a little bit slower since i work with raw images but what blows my mind is I load raw files from my camera card onto LR mobile, choose save locally and to me it appears it has to send the image to the cloud, then sends it back down to my ipad. Why can't it just copy the raw files over right then?
Allow sync when Lightroom Mobile is in the background, or phone is locked
(except for when phone settings override background activities of course, such as battery saving mode)
Why:
Saves battery on the phone not having to have the screen active when uploading a multitude of photos, allows you to lock your phone and thus prevent people access to it if you should need to leave it somewhere (charging for instance) so a security measure as well.
My use: I do not carry a laptop with me, is the reason I get the fanciest phone... it does the job (except when apps doesn't allow it) I shoot photos, either on location, or on a trip... at the end of the day I import them to my phone so that I have an extra copy (backup) ... I also like to make sure that they are in the cloud.... for backup. 3-2-1 is the best backup strategy.
I agree. At least on iOS, each app has resource-consuming settings divided by "When using app" vs. "Always" so it seems logical that any iOS app using network should follow this pattern. Then we could set Lightroom on iPhone to "Always" and additionally whether to use WiFi and/or cellular
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