While that is a really nice move that Apple made, it apparently caused the iPhoto app to not launch anymore. No matter how many times you click that iPhoto app icon, it will just not launch. Instead of launching, the app shows a message that says you need to update to the latest version. And when you do try to update, it says the app is not available in the store. After working around the issue, a solution has been found that lets you make the iPhoto app on your Mac work again. Here’s how you can apply the fix on your Mac.
Getting iPhoto Working Again in OS X Yosemite
Just to make sure that you are facing the exact issue that we have a solution for, you need to first launch the app and see the error message.
Click on Launchpad in your dock, search for and click on iPhoto, and it will open (to show you an error message).
You will be prompted to launch App Store to update the app. Click on “Search App Store” and App Store will launch on your machine.
As soon as the Store opens you will see a message that says “Item Not Available.” This is the issue that you are going to be solving in the rest of this guide.
Click on the Apple logo in the top left corner and select “App Store…”
When the Store launches, click on the “Purchases” tab.
Click on the “UPDATE” button next to iPhoto and wait for the app to be updated. In the image below, the button says “OPEN” as the app has already been updated on my Mac.
Once the app has been updated, launch it and it should work for you. If that solves the issue for you, you do not need to follow the steps given below. In case the issue still persists, follow the below steps.
Click on the Apple logo in the top left corner and select “System Preferences…”
Select “Users & Groups.” You are going to be creating a new user account to install the iPhoto app in. Then when you come back to your original account the app will work.
Click on the Lock icon to unlock the panel for modifications.
Enter your account’s username and password, and click on “Unlock.”
Click on “+” (plus sign) in the panel to add a new user to your Mac. When the new user dialog box appears, select “Administrator” from the “New Account” dropdown menu. Select “Use separate password” in the “Password” section. Fill in the other details and click on “Create User.”
Log in to the new user account that you just set up. To do that, click on the Apple logo and select “Log Out.”
Log in to the new account, click on the Apple logo and select “App Store…” Head to “Purchases,” and click the “INSTALL” button given next to iPhoto.
When the app is installed, log out from the new account, log back in to your regular account, and launch the iPhoto app. If you are a big fan of iPhoto and do not want to switch to the Photos app, you can continue loving your favorite app as it still works just fine on your machine.
Conclusion
If you suddenly found out that the iPhoto app no longer works, and you had some really great albums in it, the method above should help you get it working again on your Mac.
