Why Apple Photos Albums Don’t Import into Mylio Photos (and What to Do Instead)

When you connect an Apple Photos library to Mylio Photos, Mylio can import the photos, but Apple Photos does not make album structure available for import.

This is expected behavior. Apple Photos stores albums and folders inside its own internal database, not in the photo files themselves. Because that information isn’t exposed to other apps, Mylio Photos has no way to read or recreate Apple Photos albums during import.

If you want your Apple Photos album structure to appear in Mylio Photos, you’ll need to use a manual export workflow. The steps below explain how.

Why Apple Photos Albums Don’t Transfer

Apple Photos stores albums, folders, and most organizational data inside its own internal database. That information is not written into the image files or their metadata.

When Mylio Photos connects directly to an Apple Photos library, it can:

• Read the original image files Apple exposes

• Import those images into your Mylio library

But it cannot:

• Read Apple Photos albums or folders

• Recreate that structure during import

This limitation is controlled by Apple and affects most third-party photo apps, not just Mylio Photos.

How to Bring Apple Photos Albums into Mylio Photos (Manual Method)

If preserving your album structure is important, you can export your photos album-by-album from Apple Photos and include metadata sidecar files. This recreates your albums as folders that Mylio Photos can read.

Step-by-Step

1. Open Apple Photos

2. Select the album you want to transfer

3. Go to File > Export > Export Unmodified Originals for Album

4. In the export dialog:

   1. Enable Export IPTC as XMP

   2. Export the files into a new subfolder named after the album

5. Save that folder to a location Mylio Photos is watching, such as:

   1. Mylio InBox

   2. Mylio Pictures

6. Repeat for each album you want to preserve

Once exported, Mylio Photos will automatically import the folders and photos.

Why This Works

Using Unmodified Originals + XMP causes Apple Photos to:

• Write metadata into standardized XMP sidecar files

• Recreate your albums as physical folders on disk

Mylio Photos can:

• Read standard metadata from XMP files

• Preserve the folder structure exactly as exported

This gives you the closest possible match to your Apple Photos organization inside Mylio Photos.

Important Things to Know

Edits and Special Media

• Visual edits made in Apple Photos will not export when using Unmodified Originals

Special features such as:

• Live Photos

• Portrait mode

• Other Apple-specific formats may lose some functionality when exported

When Apple Photos is linked (not exported), Mylio Photos can retain both original files and visually edited versions. Exporting does not do this.

One-Time Import vs Ongoing Sync

• This export method is a one-time import

• New photos added to Apple Photos later (for example, from your iPhone) will not automatically appear in Mylio Photos

You can link Apple Photos afterward for automatic imports, but this will create duplicates for photos you already exported.

Avoiding Duplicates

If you link Apple Photos after doing a manual export:

1. Go to Folder View in Mylio Photos

2. Open the Apple Photos > device folder

3. Select the photos you already imported manually

4. Delete them from that folder

This keeps your library clean while allowing new photos to sync automatically going forward.

Summary

• Apple Photos albums don’t import automatically because Apple doesn’t expose that structure

• This is expected and not a Mylio Photos limitation

• To preserve albums, export album-by-album with XMP sidecar files

• This creates folders and metadata Mylio Photos can read

• The workflow is manual and best suited for a one-time migration

If you’re deciding between linking Apple Photos or exporting albums, choose the method that best fits how much structure you want to preserve versus how automated you want your workflow to be.