Data transfer between devices. Do those words make you sigh because it’s a long and tedious job to migrate, backup, and manage your photos and more when you want to transfer them to your Mac? What about Windows? If, (like me) you have a Windows laptop but also use an iPad and iPhone, then transferring your images from one platform to another was a time-consuming task before iMazing came along. I’m not alone – around half of all iPhone users worldwide are also PC users, according to iMazing.
This review is going to look at how iMazing squares up when it comes to transferring and managing photos from an iPhone or iPad to a PC. We’ll look at the different aspects of the new iMazing Photos feature from the everyday user’s point of view and let you know what we think.
Note: The features available in iMazing may vary between Mac and Windows platforms or the device you are using. iMazing was tested here on a 6th generation iPad, running software version 14.2, and iMazing was installed on a 64-bit Dell XPS 15 970, with an Intel(R) Core(™) i7-8750H CPU, running Windows 10. The iPhone used was an iPhone 11.
About iMazing
iMazing has been around for a while as a data transfer and backup tool for iOS users to migrate images, music, and files to macOS without using iTunes. The latest iMazing 2.13.2 release allows iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max to view and export Apple ProRAW photos using iMazing right from the start. I only have an iPhone 11 and a 6th-gen iPad at the moment, so RAW images aren’t available as a setting on the default camera without using a third-party camera app – which is annoying as some older Android phones have a RAW option built in to their native cameras.
iMazing isn’t just a data transfer and management device, or a handy way to backup your precious iOS device – it’s much more. You can find great new ringtones for your iPhone, transfer your WhatsApp chats to a new iPhone, or to your Mac or PC, save all your iPhone contacts to your desktop without needing iTunes, or move your music back and forth – again without needing iTunes.
Why iMazing Photos?
It’s an ideal app for those who have cross-platform devices and want to transfer, backup, or view images and other data on their PC – it saves a tremendous amount of time and makes it so easy to shoot images on an iOS device and quickly view them on your laptop or desktop in detail. The Bulk Deletion tool is also a nice touch – no more going through the camera roll on your iOS device and deleting images one by one – do it from your Mac or PC and save yourself the hassle.
Mac users now have a way to transfer images and data from iOS to macOS without needing to use iTunes, and those lucky enough to have iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max devices can shoot and transfer ProRAW images between devices for further desktop editing. iMazing is a time saver and more convenient to use than iTunes.
You can also use iMazing to quickly convert your device photos from Apple’s HEIC format to JPEG or PNG, so it’s a great tool for those iphone photographers and content creators who need to quickly convert image formats to suit different creative and website requirements.
Getting Started with iMazing
First things first – pop over to the iMazing website at iMazing and you’ll see an option to download a free version or buy a full one. Installation is very quick and simple.
And once you’ve installed the app, you’re asked if you want to enter a license key, buy now, or try the free version. Next, it will ask you to attach your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC via the USB port:
Then it will walk you through the two devices accepting each other, and you may find you have to enter your passcode on your iPad or iPhone:
Once the two devices are talking to each other (it only took a few seconds for my PC and iPad to connect), a screen will appear asking if you want to back up your device now:
I chose to back up now, but was a bit concerned it would take ages as I was impatient and wanted to see what iMazing could do with my iPad photo library!
As it turned out, it only took 4 ½ minutes to back up my iPad, and was simple to do. I then decided to back up my iPhone 11 too. When you choose to backup your device, iMazing gives you a list of options to customize your backup:
The only two options that aren’t set as default are Automatic Backups, and Backup Encryption Enabled. It’s worth setting up a regular backup schedule for your devices so you don’t forget.
Backup Encryption gives you the choice to password protect your backups for added security.
Backup of my iPhone took twice as long as the iPad, but there is a lot more stuff on there, so eight minutes from start to finish wasn’t bad at all.
Using iMazing Photos
As you can see above, there are options for files, music, messages, Safari, etc, but we’re just reviewing the photo feature here. Click on the Photos icon and it will open your iPad or iPhone’s complete photo library on your computer:
I was impressed by how quickly it loaded a couple of thousand photos – it took seconds to bring up all of the images on my iPad. When you look at the menu for your photos, you can choose to bring up all photos, favorites, hidden, or even recently deleted images.
The Media Types list is a great feature that allows you to narrow down your choices very quickly, which is great if you’re looking for specific types of content such as portraits or panoramas. You can also browse by Albums.
Click on an individual image to take a closer look at it:
On the right-hand side of the screen, you’ll see all the metadata associated with the photo, including the latitude and longitude of exactly where the image was taken, the aperture and focal length etc.
It’s more detailed than just the usual metadata though – above the data in the Assets section, you can see the original version of the image and any other adjustments made. In this case, the photo was a Live one taken on my iPhone 11, and if you click on that thumbnail you’ll also see the different version on your PC screen. This is a very useful tool if you want to choose exactly what version(s) of the image or video you want to transfer to your computer.
You can also recover deleted images from your backups, so it’s like a time machine. As long as an image has been backed up with iMazing, you can recover it even if it’s been completely removed from your iOS device and iCloud – it still lives on in your iMazing backup. No more lost photos or videos!
Other Filtering/Search Features
- At the top you’ll find three different views – Moments, Grid and List
- Full screen mode available by double clicking the image
- Filter for date, text search, and sort by any field
- Open the location the image was taken in Google Maps by clicking the ‘Open in Google Maps’ link at the bottom of the metadata
At the bottom of the screen you can see options to Export, Import, and Delete images, although when I tried to do if from this screen I got this message which I found confusing until I did a bit of research:
I have iCloud Photo Library enabled, so I’m not able to bulk delete photos from the Camera Roll, but if you don’t have iCloud Photo Library enabled on your device then bulk deleting should be a much simpler affair.
Exporting an image is simple. Click Export at the bottom of the screen, and a new window will open with export options, including the option to convert the image or video from Apple’s HEIC format to JPEG or PNG:
Here, you also have the Quality option which is set at a default of 95%. You can also choose different Folder options, as well as some handy features like using the original filenames and exporting originals of edited images.
If you want to convert multiple images from HEIC, the Tools option on the top menu bar gives you the option to use the HEIC converter, which enables you to drag and drop the images in the open HEIC converter window:
What I liked in iMazing Photos
The speed and simplicity of use, quite simply. Once I downloaded and installed iMazing, getting a couple of thousand images from my iPad to my laptop took literally seconds.
I also liked the way the images and videos were categorized in different media types, making it easy to lay your hands on animations, panoramas, or portraits. The metadata is also very detailed. This means you can deconstruct a shot taken by someone else on a DSLR or iOS device and see what settings they used to get that particular effect in camera, or find out exactly where that shot was taken.
Being able to see the original and any other versions of an image is great, and so is having the choice which assets you want to export to your computer.
The HEIC converter is also a nice touch, allowing for swift image conversion to JPEG or PNG, and the option to backup your iOS device gives peace of mind as well as the ability to recover deleted images.
What I Thought Could be Improved
I felt that some things could be made clearer to the user. For instance, the message I got when I tried to delete some images (see screenshot above) left me confused as to how to fix the problem as I couldn’t see the items mentioned in the sidebar. It took a bit of researching to find out what the problem actually was.
Maybe a short tutorial or two or an assistant to help out less tech-savvy users would be a nice touch, or perhaps it’s just me who feels that way!
Availability and Pricing
iMazing 2 is available for Windows and macOS. There is a free trial version, but it comes with a few caveats: the free trial offers unlimited and automatic backups, but you’ll need to upgrade to the full version to restore files from the backups. It also limits the amount of data transfer between your device and your PC. To continue over that limit, you’ll need to buy a license to unlock the full version.
The new Photos tool is available as a free update for all those who already hold an iMazing 2 license.
The full lifetime license version can be bought for different numbers of devices, starting from two devices for around $44 on the Personal plan, going up to 10 devices. It’s worth checking various sites to see if there’s any discounts going, as there have been some good ones for around half price in the past.
The lifetime license includes:
- All iMazing updates
- All iMazing features, with up to 3 devices
- On any computer, Mac or PC
- 7 day support
You can also buy licenses for unlimited numbers of devices, and there are business plan options for iMazing too.
Final Thoughts
iMazing is easy to use. Installation is simple and fast, and I was really impressed by how quickly my iPad photos were brought up on my laptop. I liked the way the images were categorized by album or image type, the choice of assets, very detailed image metadata, and I was pleased to see the range of export options too.
I didn’t use any of the other features in iMazing, just the Photos, but I think it’s fair to say it’s a very comprehensive data transfer, organizer, and backup tool. As an iOS/Windows user, this is just the sort of app I’ve been waiting for.
For those lucky enough to have the new iPhones, the ability to shoot in RAW and import to your Mac or PC is also going to be a game changer. All in all, I was impressed by iMazing Photos and the range of useful tools for those with a growing iOS photo library – it saves a lot of time and effort.
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