Q:When I plug my iPod touch in to sync with my Mac, it opens iPhoto and tries to sync photos even though I have ‘sync photos’ turned off and then will not sync music until I do a manual sync. Any thoughts? I’m using the latest iTunes version.
– Tim
A: Actually, what appears to be happening here has nothing to do with syncing photos to your device, but rather with the fact that your Mac is seeing your iPod touch as a “camera” and therefore opening iPhoto in much the same way as it would if you connected any other digital camera to your computer.
Even though the iPod touch does not have a camera in it, you can save photos from other applications such as Mail or Safari, and these go into a “Saved Photos” section on your iPod touch and can be transferred back to your computer in much the same way as they would be from a digital camera.
The simplest way to fix this issue is to tell iPhoto to not open when you connect a camera. You can do this by going into your iPhoto preferences and changing the option beside “Connecting camera opens” to “No Application.”
Unfortunately, this will turn off automatic starting of iPhoto for any camera that you connect, and not just your iPod touch.
This should be a minor issue, however, as it’s not difficult to open iPhoto manually when you connect your camera and actually want to transfer photos into your iPhoto library.
Assuming that you don’t actually have your iPod touch set to manage its content manually, the problem with it not syncing when connected is likely a separate issue with your iTunes preferences. Go into your iTunes Preferences and check the “Devices” tab and you’ll notice a setting to “Disable automatic syncing for iPhones and iPods.”
Ensure this is not selected, otherwise iTunes will not automatically sync any iPod or iPhone that is connected to your computer.