I’ve been using the iOS 18 beta since June, and the redesigned Photos app is easily my biggest complaint about the new software.
After a year of waiting, Apple has finally rolled out iOS 18 to the public, the latest version of iPhone software. This update introduces eye-catching features like customizable home screens. As often happens, there are also some eye-roll-worthy changes. For me, that includes the new Photos app.
Apple first announced the new Photos app during its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June, touting it as «the biggest-ever redesign.» When you first open the app on iOS 18, the changes are very apparent.
Most notably, Apple added new collections, like Recent Days, People and Pets, and Trips, to sort your Photos. The company also modified the Photos app to work seamlessly with Apple Intelligence, which will be available on all iPhone 16 models and the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max starting this month.
However, what Apple refers to as a «simplified layout» seems to be an unnecessarily complicated change for many using the Photos app. The previous tab design was replaced by collections that are automatically categorized by themes. It makes it difficult to find the popular Recently Saved photos and doesn’t show all the photos on your device like it once did with an All Photos tab.
Am I too accustomed to the old Photos app, or is this change a wrong turn for Apple? The biggest problem with the new Photos app may be that it takes some time to get used to it.
The old Photos app already had some categories and themes, but the iOS 18 version has all the photos on one page, condensing what used to be in tabs into one scrollable library.
