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If youâre one of the billions who own an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch and the device is running iOS 8 or later, youâll spot the same Photos icon on your home screen (unless you moved it, that is). Your Mac isnât the only device that can have Photos funâthereâs a version of Photos for iOS, too. In that case, you can haul your Mac to the nearest Apple retail store, where theyâre more than happy to upgrade it to the latest and greatest version for you. If you donât have a high-speed Internet connection, updating your operating system can take a painfully long time and it may never fully download (say, if the connection times out). This chapter arms you with everything you need to know.
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As youâll learn starting on Migrating from iPhoto or Aperture to Photos, thereâs a fair amount of preparation you need to do in order to smoothly migrate from those older programs to Photos. If, on the other hand, youâve been in the Mac universe for a while and youâve been using iPhoto or Aperture to manage your digital memories, there are some important things to consider before launching Photos. Feel free to skip everything else in this chapter and move to more exciting topics like importing your pictures and videos, which is covered in Chapter 2. This chapter also includes a wonderful strategy for managing Photos in a family situation ( Photos for Families) so that your Photos world doesnât get out of hand.
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Youâll learn how to get Photos (if you donât yet have it) and read an incredibly helpful overview of iCloud Photo Library ( Meet the iCloud Photo Library), the Apple service you can use to back up and then sync your Photos library onto all of your Macs and iOS devices. If youâre new to OS X or youâve never before used iPhoto, then you can breeze through this chapter in no time flat.
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