Can a photo in the library be deleted without its copy in an album deleting at the same time?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Original Title: Can a photo in the library be deleted from the livrary after it has veen moved to an album, without the album photo being deleted as well?
iPhone 12 mini, iOS 18
As Yer-Man says, the Library means all of your pictures. But you can see a list of pictures that are not in any album, if you need to. You do that by using Filters in the Library view:
This "Not in an Album" filter was added in iOS18 in answer to requests like yours.
No, because they're not copies, they're the same photograph and the same file.
Photos, (like iPhoto, Aperture, Music, iTunes) is a database. This means it can be very flexible and powerful, if sometimes a little confusing. The library is the core of the app. Every image is in the library. Albums are virtual, and are just subsets of the library. In fact, Albums are not places, they are lists - instructions to the app to 'display this group of images together'. So images do not get "moved" to Albums, they get added to that particular list. This means that an image can be in more than one album but use no extra disk space. Similarly in the Music app, all the tracks are in the Library and can be added to any number of playlists.
Thank you to the two responses.
There must be a solution to this dichotomy. As an Apple Customer, I am sure a solution will be forthcoming from Capertuno’s finest in due course. After all, how hard can it be to do what it can’t do at the present tiime
What dichotomy? You seem to think there is a problem here. There isn't. This is exactly how the app is designed to work, and it is working correctly. Apple have done this library model with all of its media managers: iPhoto, Aperture, Photos, iTunes, Music and so on. If you want an app that works differently then use one that meets your needs.
Steve Macmanus wrote: … There must be a solution to this dichotomy.
I'm not sure what "dichotomy" you're referring to, but I thought Yer_Man and I had shown you the solution to your question.
Deleting library photos without affecting album copies on iPhone
