Meet The Apple Photos We Didn't Know We Asked For.
Getting to love the blind date on your iPhone
For many of you, waking up to a whole new Photos app on your iPhone was about as welcome as your best friend’s cousin on a dinner date. Unexpected. Tentative. Uncertain. But then you discover they’re a Rhodes Scholar and into bungee jumping.
Hmmm . . .
Apple’s very good at this; lulling us into a behavior and then switching it up for something we didn’t know we wanted. They have this uncanny knack for disruption that’s played out again and again since the day that Steve Jobs introduced the iMac without a floppy disk drive. Then the iPhone without a keyboard. And, DVD’s anyone?
The thing is that, in the end, Apple has reliably got it right. And once we became used to the new normal, we didn’t know how we lived without it.
To love Apple is to embrace a blind date now and then.
The iPhone Challenge
In fact, looking at the 30,000 foot view of the Apple Photos ecosystem - iPhone/iPad, iCloud, Mac(s) - the change was inevitable, at least on the iPhone. There’s too little real estate for all the features of a full-on photo management app once your photo library gets into the tens of thousands of images and hundreds of Albums. It’s scroll city and that must have bugged someone at Apple enough to rethink the whole thing.
Yes, there’s an argument for making Apple Photos consistent across all devices, but trying to match the navigation on a 6 inch vertical display to a 15 or 24 inch wide screen is doomed to some kind of compromise. Why not tailor the user experience to the device instead of the other way around?
And that’s what Apple did.
Apple Photos New Look
To be clear, the “new” Apple Photos in iOS 18.1 is just a management tool. It doesn’t change any data, organization (Folders/Albums), or images. It just makes your pictures - IMHO - remarkably more accessible. It does this by putting everything on the Photos Home Screen with big Widget-like thumbnails that make navigation quick and easy. Doom scrolling through your Library to find ‘that’ shot is a thing of the past.
Want the video you imported yesterday? There it is.
Looking for your spring vacation photos? Yup.
All the pictures of your whole family together? Here they are.
Do-it-Yourself Design
What makes it all work is the ability to customize the layout so your favorite collections are right at your fingertips, much like in professional photo apps. You can set up the Apple Photos Home Screen so your go-to collections are right there next to the photo library. At the same time, Collections that you never use can be hidden from the app altogether. It’s like customizing the iPhone home screen with just the apps you use all the time.
So when you open up the new Apple Photos, be aware that you’re looking at a smorgasbord of collections from which to choose; not a prix fixe dinner without substitutions. Just scroll all the way down to “Customize & Reorder” where you can build the Photos Home Screen that you want and make it your own.
One more thing.
How Do You Roll?
This is a great time to stop and really consider how you look for photos on your iPhone. We scroll because we think it’s the fastest way to find ‘that’ photo. But with better tools now, there are better ways to get there.
Perhaps you’re always looking for specific people, so putting People & Pets up top will save you time. Maybe you regularly review recent additions to your library, so Recently Viewed or Recently Added would be handy. If you make a lot of screenshots, then that collection should be front and center.
It’s all up for grabs.
If you are feeling disoriented by the new Apple Photos, I urge you to give it a chance. Like so many other Apple pivots, I’m convinced that this will become your new normal faster than you think.
And be the start of a beautiful new friendship.
If you need help with the new Apple Photos, I offer 1:1 coaching and online workshops. When you’re ready, book a free intro call. You’ve got this.