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iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 introduce a big redesign for the Photos app, with a cleaner interface and the ability to create custom collections, customize layout, filter out screenshots, and more. It's saved me tons of time by tidying up my Photos library automatically.
Small tweaks can add up to make a big difference, and that's the main theme of Apple's Photos app redesign in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18. The revamped Photos is a great example of how Apple's computer vision and machine learning algorithms have come a long way.
The app curates your best shots in new ways and requires far less manual maintenance than it once did. For people with massive libraries like yours truly, this is a blessing. There's no need to switch between tabs anymore, which has created more space for the photo grid.
The Search, Select, and Settings sections are always available in the top-right corner.
Like before, hitting the Select button lets you mark one or more images to share, delete, and so on.
The Search screen is also redesigned with new tags and a cleaner layout. The change means you now must hit a new "Done" button in the top-right corner to exit the search interface.
Initially, the app displays a portion of your camera roll. To browse the library full screen, pinch to adjust thumbnail size and switch between Years, Months, and All views, just swipe down.
As Photos is now a single-screen app, you must swipe up to reveal additional sections, called collections. The following collections are turned on by default, with more available:
Recent Days Albums People and Pets Memories Trips Shared Albums Pinned Collections Featured Photos Media Types Utilities Wallpaper SuggestionsThe Recovered collection only shows when Photos recovers images in your library that weren't visible before because of database corruption in a locked album.
The Recent Days Collection
On iOS 17 and earlier, the Albums and Shared Albums used to live under the Albums tab, while the For You tab housed your Memories, Featured Photos, and Recent Days. They're now collections, and you'll want to pay special attention to Recent Days, which organizes your library by day so you can quickly find photos shot on specific dates.
The Wallpaper Suggestions Collection
I especially like the new Wallpaper Suggestions section where Photos recommends iPhone wallpapers based on what the system deems are your most "wallpaper appropriate" shots of people, places, pets, and more.
It does a great job of curating your library into a list of available wallpapers with no effort on your part. Just pick something and up pops the familiar wallpaper interface with tints, colors, and fonts. Creating new wallpapers from the iPhone photos you've already taken has never been so easy.
The Media Types Collection
The Media Types section, which used to live under the Albums tab on iOS 17, is now a collection. Here, you can browse media based on camera modes, like Videos, Selfies, Live Photos, Portrait, Panoramas, Slo-mo, Screenshots, Screen Recordings, Spatial, and RAW.
On prior iOS versions, you could quickly surface screenshots, receipts, and more in search thanks to Photos' object and scene recognition. You can still do that, but these things are now automatically categorized, which is a huge time-saver.
Customizing and Reordering Collections
Don't be beholden to Apple's layout! You can choose what's displayed and what isn't, and in what order by scrolling down and selecting "Customize & Reorder."
Here, I can turn off specific collections to hide them from the main view. For example, I don't use shared albums at all, so I've turned this option off. However, I frequently access the Utilities and Media Types collections, so I've moved those two up the list.
That's one way to keep your most frequently accessed media types at hand.
Customizing Pinned Collections
Another new addition is Pinned Collections, a special collection that houses common media types, other collections, or any albums you choose. Touch the "Pinned Collections" heading and then tap "Modify" to edit them.
Choose collections from the Suggestions section and order them however you like. To reveal unlisted options, select "Any Collection or Album."
I use Pinned Collections for quick-access items, like Screenshots and Recently Viewed. I've moved this section closer to the top so I can access it without too much scrolling.
When browsing the People and Pets collection, you can choose specific people (or groups which is new). The same goes when browsing your Trips and Memories.
My Photos library used to be a mess before iOS 18 came along, with tons of screenshots, handwritten notes, receipts, and other temporary images cluttering the library. It was especially frustrating as they would get in the way of enjoying memories snapped with my iPhone.
My solution was to hide all non-photos, which created new problems as image pickers in many apps ignore the Hidden album, like WhatsApp. The only way to share a photo from the Hidden album on WhatsApp is via its extension in the Share menu.
Thankfully, iOS 18 has fixed my screenshot clutter issue in one fell swoop with all-new filtering and view options, which let me cherry-pick what's shown in the full library view. You'll find these tucked away under the icon with two arrows in the bottom-left corner.
I immediately turned off "Screenshots" and "Shared with You" under the View Options menu. Screenshots are a necessary evil, but I don't need them populating my view.
The other choices available through the View Options menu—Zoom In, Zoom Out, and Aspect Ratio Grid—were all available on iOS 17 and earlier.
The Filter menu is another welcome change. Here, I can filter out everything but my favorite shots, edited media, photos, videos, or screenshots.
You can also sort your library by Date Captured or Recently Added.
As someone who regularly uses the built-in editing tools in Photos to touch-up my photographs, I use the Edited filter when I'd like to share snaps I'm most proud of.
Utilities Lists Handwriting, Receipts, and More
Apple has made the Utilities section vastly more useful. In iOS 17, Utilities hosted just four media categories: Imports, Duplicates, Hidden, and Recently Deleted. Contrast this with the following 13 categories in the Utilities section in iOS 18's Photos.
Documents: Images of documents you took Duplicates: Only shows if you have duplicates in your library Handwriting: Images with handwriting on them Hidden: All the images you've hidden Illustrations: Images with drawings and paintings Imports: Items you've imported into Photos Map: A new way to see where you took your photos QR Codes: Images with QR codes in them Receipts: Images of receipts Recently Deleted: Items deleted in the past 30 days Recently Edited: Media you've edited recently Recently Saved: Items you've recently saved in Photos Recently Viewed: Media you've viewed recentlyI use the Recently Deleted, Edited, and Saved options to quickly get to the images I've recently interacted with, and Imports to see what I've imported into Photos from other apps.
Life Is Too Short to Manage Photos
I regularly take pictures with my iPhone but don't want to spend my time managing them manually. The Photos app showcases how Apple's conservative approach to AI and machine learning can yield great results. It's a gift that keeps giving.
I had a disdain for technology giants aggressively attempting to shove AI down our throats, and I couldn't care less about Apple Intelligence. But trust me when I say you'd be doing yourself a huge disservice by dismissing the revamped Photos app.