How to use the Photos app on your iPhone with iOS 18

Apple’s Photos app has undergone a revamp courtesy of iOS 18. With the new operating system, currently in public beta, the app automatically organizes your photo library into collections based on topics. And if you don’t like the default collections, you can tweak them according to your preferences.

You’ll still find the usual grid of photos that you can view based on years or months. You can sort and filter your photos to display them in a certain order. But now you’ll also discover collections for specific photos and videos, including Recent Days, People, Memories, Albums, and Featured Photos.

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Viewing each collection is as simple as swiping up and down the screen. Jump to the bottom of the screen and customize the layout to remove or resort your collections.

To try this app yourself, you’ll need the iOS 18 public beta on an iPhone. To install the beta, follow the steps in ‘You can download iOS 18 public beta on iPhone right now. Here’s how (and which models support it).’ If you’ve already installed the initial public beta, update the OS to the third beta to grab the latest changes to the Photos app.

How to use and tweak the Photos app in iOS 18

After installing iOS 18, launch the Photos app. At the top, you’ll see the familiar grid view of your library. Pinch your fingers to zoom out for a wider view of your library. From there, you can jump to a specific month and year. Move your fingers apart to zoom in on a series of photos or a photo.

Open the Photos app — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

You can also change the view to show photos by months and year. The All view shows you all your photos arranged by date from oldest to newest. Tap Years at the bottom and move to a specific year. Tap Months and choose a month to view its photos.

View by months or years — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

In regular view, tap the double arrow at the bottom. From the menu, you can sort your library by recently added or date captured.

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Tap Filter to filter your library to see favorites, edited items, photos, videos, screenshots, or screen recordings. Tap “View Options” to zoom in or out, display the photos in their actual aspect ratio, include or exclude screenshots, and include or exclude photos shared with you.

Sort or filter your photos — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

Swipe down the screen to view the generated collections, such as Recent Days, Albums, People, Pinned Collections, Memories, Trips, Shared Albums, and Featured Photos.

View collections — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

Tap a specific collection to view the photos inside. Depending on the collection, you can then swipe up and down or left and right to look at each photo. Tap the X to close the collection and return to the previous screen.

View a collection — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

Just as you can with your main library, you can sort and filter the photos in a collection. After opening a collection, tap the double arrow. From the menu, you can sort by oldest first, by newest first, or by custom date.

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You can also filter the items based on the different categories and change the view to zoom in or see the photos in their actual aspect ratio.

Sort and filter a collection — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

The Photos app will automatically create a movie from a series of photos in a collection. After opening the collection, tap Movie at the bottom. A generated movie starts playing with titles and background music. Tap the screen to pause or play the movie.

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Select the sound icon at the bottom and then swipe through the screens to apply different filters and select other music. Tap the ellipsis icon at the top and you can edit the movie, share it, and run other commands. Tap the X to close the movie and collection.

Generate a movie from a collection of photos — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

You can select one or more photos to run different commands on them. At the library screen, tap the Select button at the top and then tap each photo to include in the selection. Tap the iOS Share icon to share the photos by email, text message, AirDrop, or other means. Tap the trash can icon to delete them. Tap the bottom icon with an ellipsis in the circle to run other commands, such as copying, hiding, playing a slideshow, or adding to an album.

Select photos — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

You can customize the collections to remove or reorder specific ones. Swipe down to the bottom of the screen and tap “Customize & Reorder”. The screen displays all the default collections. To remove a collection, tap the checkmark to turn it off. That collection will no longer appear on the main screen.

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To reorder the list, press down on the three-lined hamburger icon for a collection and then drag and drop it to a new location. The list will then appear in the order you created. To set it back to the way it was, tap Reset. Otherwise, tap X to return to the main screen.