iTunes has got the wrong idea

iTunes has got the wrong idea when it comes to syncing photos. You want to "sync" things that are changed frequently, like documents and music (playlists). Syncing photos creates the following problems:

• slow sync time (iPad 2 stuck on "Finishing sync")
• risk of accidents corrupting all copies, which could have been used as backups
• cannot move, rename, resize, archive photos (ok, I want to keep a copy of my holiday photos on my iPad to bore helpless saps, but I don't want to keep a copy in my Pictures folder)

And the additional problems if you don't use iPhoto:

• cannot add/delete individual photos
• cannot use subfolders

To some extent, the same problems apply with pdf files and movies in iTunes. Enter third-party photos apps. These have got it right:

• add and remove photos, not sync. Works like a USB drive. Add once and leave them. Forever.
• add individual photos - have an album of things you want to buy
• delete photos you don't want to show people
• password protect individual folders
• folders and subfolders, independent of those on your computer
• transfer photos by WiFi http server

I tested the app Photo Manager Pro, by Linkus, and am very satisfied with it.

In addition to the features above, it also has:

• search
• universal app!

I first got it to read comics, and found the search is very useful - you can just dump everything into 1 folder, and search for the chapter numbers to find the correct files. You can scroll between files in the search results, you don't have to return to the search page or even worse redo the search after each file.