Photo Numbers on the iPhone Should Be At Least 5 Digits
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 8/9/2016 1:00:00 AM
Having only 4 digits for photo numbers is a real problem.
We take it for granted that whenever we take photos, our devices assign a unique filename. Most of the time, this consists of a prefix and a number. The iPhone for example uses the prefix IMG_, and a 4 digit number, for a total of 8 digits, including the underscore in the middle.
Sounds simple enough, but now that people can take hundreds of photos at any given event, that 4 digit number can cause a lot of problems down the road as we approach the 9999 mark.
To compensate for this, whenever you delete a photo, Apple takes advantage of the missing number and it will eventually re-use it, breaking the sequence. So when you bring your photos into your computer and sort by filename, the sequence of photos is completely random. Photo #1012 could be taken months after photo #2020.
The root of the problem is that Apple is using a filesystem that was designed to fit the old 8 digit filenames. Based on that, having the IMG_ prefix limits the iPhone to just 4 digits. One solution is to remove the underscore, which gives you a 5th digit. Personally, I think it would be fine to remove the entire prefix, or at the least, remove another letter, so a potential photo could be called IM001224, which is a 6 digit number, essentially giving you a million numbers, including 000000.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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