Quickly Access iPhone Photos From The Finder [iOS Tips]

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PhotoStream Images

Taking photos is a ton of fun, especially with our nearly ubiquitous iPhones or iPads. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen in the last month or so snapping pictures with the big tablet device. Looks silly, but makes sense.

How do you get them to your Mac, though? You could email them, one at a time, or you can connect the device to the Mac and grab them via iPhoto. These days, you can even use PhotoStream in iPhoto to see the latest photos you’ve taken on any PhotoStream-enabled iOS device. Todays tip is even faster than that.

First off, make sure your PhotoStream is enabled, both on your iOS device, in this case an iPhone, and your Mac.

On your Macintosh, in the Finder, use the Go menu and select Go To Folder… (or hit Shift-Command-G on your keyboard). Then, type or paste in the following folder path: ~/Library/Application Support/iLifeAssetManagement/assets/sub/. In that folder, you’ll see many other folders named with seemingly random strings of letters and numbers.

Type .png or .jpg into the search field in the upper right corner of this Finder window, being sure to choose the “sub” folder to restrict your search only to this folder. If you like, save this search as a Smart Folder by clicking on the Save button just underneath the search field. Name your Smart Folder and then save it to a location you’ll remember, like the Desktop. You can check the box at the bottom to save this in your sidebar as well.

If you search for .png files, you’ll see screenshots you’ve taken; if you search for .jpg files, you’ll see the photos you’ve snapped. For further awesome, type ‘image’ into the search field. Choose kind=image as your search filter and you’ll get both types of image file from your PhotoStream.

[Via Macworld]

Got an iOS tip of your own? Need help troubleshooting your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad ? Drop me a line or leave a comment below.

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