How to Make the iOS 18 Photos App Suck Less

With iOS 18, Apple overhauled the Photos app, introducing a new, unified design that did away with the navigation bar and merged everything into a single screen. It marked the single biggest change to image management since the launch of the ‌Photos‌ app, and it's been controversial with some users.


There's no returning to what the ‌Photos‌ app used to be unless Apple decides to roll back the changes, but there are a few tweaks that can be made to make it easier to get used to the new layout.

First, if you haven't done so already, scroll down to the bottom of the ‌Photos‌ app and tap on Edit. From there, make sure all your most used ‌Photos‌ features are at the top of the app. In this section, you'll find Recent Days, Albums, People and Pets, Memories, and Pinned Collections.

Pinned Collections is a little confusing because it's a second customizable interface that has many of the same options as the main app, but think of it as a folder in a folder. It can be useful to put up top and add your most accessed utilities to, such as screenshots or specific albums.

You can rearrange the sections of your ‌Photos‌ app by dragging and dropping to reorder, plus you can hide any of the collections. If you don't want to see Featured ‌Photos‌, Wallpaper Suggestions, or Trips, for example, you can uncheck those so they won't be listed in the app. If you don't like that redundant Pinned Collections section, you can hide that too.

If you haven't spent a lot of time fussing with the ‌Photos‌ app, you might not know about the filters. In the full Library view, which you get to by swiping down, tapping on the arrows will show you the filters option. You can filter for photos, videos, edited images, screenshots, and favorites, or sort by recently added or date captured. There are also options to weed out screenshots and Shared With You images from your main photo library.

The new ‌Photos‌ app isn't all bad. Search has improved quite a bit, and you can search for really specific parameters like "plants in Florida" or "Eric in a blue shirt."

What do you think of the ‌iOS 18‌ ‌Photos‌ app? Are you getting used to it? Let us know in the comments below.

Related Roundups: iOS 18, iPadOS 18
Related Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18

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Top Rated Comments

DigitalAR Avatar
14 weeks ago
Apple ruining the Photos app is a great reminder that you the customer doesn’t even truly own your iPhone
Score: 75 Votes (Like | Disagree)
awisdom Avatar
14 weeks ago
IOS18 Photos is by far the worst thing Apple did in the new OS. Completely confusing, zero useful new features and now I cannot find anything I used to find easily. The product managers on the Photos team must be complete fools? Why make the UX worse on purpose? Makes me want to try Android if I hadn’t invested so much in Tim Cook’s paycheck.
Score: 64 Votes (Like | Disagree)
brofkand Avatar
14 weeks ago
Apple has not written good software in years. The brain drain in Cupertino must be profound.
Score: 50 Votes (Like | Disagree)
awisdom Avatar
14 weeks ago

Apple has not written good software in years. The brain drain in Cupertino must be profound.
You’re right. And here in Si Valley (I’m an engineer), we call them DFH engineers. Apple and Google have tons. Meta too. “Dumb, fat, happy engineers”. They produce dribble and very slowly at that. It’s because their salaries are $500K+ and their stock options are worth millions. Why work hard and produce quality when you can rest, be rich and just lounge around? You ask why the managers don’t care? They have even more money! Your money!
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Baggy Spandex Avatar
14 weeks ago
I haven't met one person that is pleased with the new photos app.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kirky29 Avatar
14 weeks ago
The new Photos app update is, unfortunately, one of the most disappointing changes for me. It still feels clunky and awkward to use. Instead of refining an already solid app, why did they feel the need to completely reinvent it? One feature I was really hoping for was the ability to customise the order of adjustments in the editing menu. Since I really only use vibrance and brightness, it would be so handy to move them to the top of the list for quicker access.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)