Updating profile photo not working

I'll appreciate feedback per an issue I was recently made aware of by some ward members with iPhones. This is in regard to uploading a profile picture using the app -- in my test, I tried this on an iPhone 5s with iOS 9.3.1 using LDS Tools 2.5.1. After selecting a picture and confirming to upload, a spinning cursor displays on the screen and the photo does not appear to upload. I tried exiting and re-attempting with no change, as well as using an existing picture and taking one.

Does this happen to be a known issue? Our stake president has asked ward leaders (including my wife, the RS President) to help facilitate members getting their profile pictures updated, and this capability in LDS Tools seems to be the most straightforward for many members.

I know there was a change to the photo back end, and a new LDS Tools 3.0 is supposed to hit on the first. You might want to wait for 3.0 to arrive in the Apple Store and try again.

I updated to the new version on my iPhone and iPad and my existing picture was no longer there. I've uploaded it twice on my iPhone but it doesn't see to stay. It didn't show up on my iPad either and no one else can see it when they look in LDS Tools. There appears to be some issue there. I do like the new features and look, but not how it is handling pictures.

I just updated LDS Tools on my iPhone5 to version 3.0.1 and was then able to successfully upload a picture. However, the 'constrain' feature when adjusting the photo is a bit confusing...hopefully others find it more intuitive.

Something else I just noticed per the update. Some members photos aren't displaying automatically. If I press on the '+' sign for their photo to update it (I'm thinking I have this option due to my calling as Stake Exec Sec), then the photo appears for the member if they posted one -- it's as if I did a 'force' download of the pic. When I back out, the member's photo continues to display on the subsequent screens.

I just the steps above and was able to get about 10 members photos to display that were not showing automatically. Unfortunately, I'm unable to identify a pattern.

I can load the picture but each time I sync it goes away. I think the issue is that the picture stays local to my device and when I sync it doesn't upload but then the Stan overwrites it.

ccole59 wrote:I can load the picture but each time I sync it goes away.

Yep, seeing same issue :-/

One reply in another form post gave the old instructions for uploading pictures thru MLS saying that a bishopric member has to approve the photo first. I don't think that is still true with iPhone apps now available.

ccole59 wrote:One reply in another form post gave the old instructions for uploading pictures thru MLS saying that a bishopric member has to approve the photo first. I don't think that is still true with iPhone apps now available.

It has never been possible to upload photos through MLS. Perhaps you're thinking of the Directory on LDS.org -- that seems to fit what you are describing a bit better. But a bishopric member or clerk or website administrator still has to approve photos, regardless of where they are uploaded from.

ccole59 wrote:I don't think that is still true with iPhone apps now available.

IIRC, depending on your calling, you may see unapproved photos. And you may be able to see your own unapproved photo. But for the general membership to see the photo, I believe it still has to be approved.

I, as ward clerk, go to the photos section in the ward directory and approve those needing approval. But then the photos disappear. They don't show on the photo directory. Is there a page where I need to assign them somehow?

Also under 'manage photos' I see some members have multiple photos there. Is that necessary? Do I need to delete older photos and only keep the most recent ones?
Somewhat confused.

samueln wrote:Also under 'manage photos' I see some members have multiple photos there. Is that necessary? Do I need to delete older photos and only keep the most recent ones?
Somewhat confused.

Are the members for which you are seeing two photos the only member of the household? I suspect this is the case. There is a household photo and and individual photo. For a single member household both the household photo and the individual photo will have the same name for both photos. Even the photos can or may be the same. But they most certainly can be different photos and therefore give the impression while looking in the Manage Photos section that one photo is an 'older' photo. If there are two photos for the same person you can go to the household in the Directory rather than using the Manage Photos section to see that one photo is for the household and the other is for the individual.

While I really appreciate the photos auto loading when I preview a member's profile on my iPhone, it's annoying that it seems that at just the same instant when I try to select the specific member from the household, the photo loads and drops the member's details down on the screen, causing me to touch and open the photo. This has happened to me numerous times! LOL. It wasn't the case in the old version of LDS Tools as there was some type of photo 'place holder' which kept the page structure fairly rigid while the content loaded. Are others seeing the same thing? Do I just need to be patient before selecting stuff, or is there a way to set the Tool to only manually load photos (by hitting the 'plus')?