If you open the Photos app (macOS) connected to iCloud with an empty library, th...

lostlogin · 2026-01-12T06:13:48 1768198428

This is not correct.

You don’t need an iPhone for Photos.app to work.

There are plenty of problems with Photos.app but the issue you describe isn’t by design.

reconnecting · 2026-01-12T06:54:42 1768200882

My bad — it appears that Monterey wasn't syncing with iCloud due to "Performance." Photos on Monterey hides the status message at the bottom of the page, and I had to pull the page down twice to finally see it.

Thank you for proving me wrong.

lostlogin · 2026-01-12T19:49:10 1768247350

Oh god. I’d forgotten about that tiny dialogue box.

98,281 items to sync.

I hope it comes right quickly.