iPod touch or iPhone not being recognized as a camera?
Users may experience issues with their iPod touch or iPhone not being recognized as a camera when it is connected to their computer.
Joe AimonettiMacFixIt Editor
Joe is a seasoned Mac veteran with years of experience on the platform. He reports on Macs, iPods, iPhones and anything else Apple sells. He even has worked in Apple retail stores. He's also a creative professional who knows how to use a Mac to get the job done.
Users may experience issues with their iPod touch or iPhone not being recognized as a camera when it is connected to their computer. In these cases, there are some steps that users can take to restore functionality.
When your iPod touch or iPhone is not being recognized as a camera, try these steps:
Be sure you have taken a picture in your Camera Roll. If you are using an iPhone, tap the Photos icon and tap Camera Roll. You will see any photos you have taken, screen grabs you have captured, or pictures you have saved. Of course, with the iPod touch, you cannot take photographs, but screen grabs and saved images will appear. The iPod touch requires iPhone OS 2.0 or greater to create screen grabs and save images.
When you connect your iPod touch or iPhone, manually open iPhoto to determine if it can recognize the device as a camera.
If iPhoto has not recognized your iPod touch or iPhone as a camera, check for updates to iPhoto. You will need at least version 6 of iPhoto to use with the iPhone OS. To check iPhoto for updates, open the application, click iPhoto in the menu bar, and choose "Check for Updates...".
Try different photo management software. On your Mac, open Image Capture.
Be sure iTunes and your iPhone OS are up-to-date. Connect your iPod touch or iPhone to your Mac and check for updates. In iTunes, click iTunes from the menu bar, and choose "Check for Updates...".
Be sure your OS is up-to-date. Click the Apple icon () from the menu bar and choose "Software Update...".
Attempt to use a different computer to import your photos.
As a workaround, you can email images from your Camera Roll on your iPod touch or iPhone to yourself and access them on your computer.
Restore your iPod touch or iPhone. Plug your device into your Mac and Sync (to create a backup). Click the Restore button to reset your device to factory settings.
