Apple Tweaks iOS 18 Photos App in Fifth Beta

[Momof2.1107]

I feel like every time I open the photos app everything is different. I don’t take tons of photos, but still.

I’d love to be able to arrange photos into folders so that they don’t always all appear together. Albums are one thing, but they don’t actually move the photos.

That’s one of the main features that I want. Once I move a photo into an album I don’t want them to remain in all photos.

 

[MysteriousStain]

Delete

 

[giebe]

Best change they could do: revert back to the old photos app.

 

[bushman4]

A redesign is only good when it is an improvement. Not for the sake of changing it
New photo App beta is not an improvement
It’s more of an annoyance
Something’s things are best left alone in their original state

 

[amaze1499]

I still fail to learn how to navigate this app. From a UI perspective far from ideal.

 

[svish]

Looks like some very good changes.

 

[winxmac]

iOS 18 beta Photos app is one of the reasons that I would want for Apple to allow downgrade even after many years have passed...

I have switched back to iOS 17.6 [despite saying in the past I would skip iOS 17.x] because of the unnecessary changes they made in iOS 18 beta and it's been almost a week since I downgraded... Every new major version they release, the more that iOS is getting unrecognizable from what it used to be, from what it used to look like...

Yes for now you can still downgrade to iOS 17.6 but once iOS 18.0 is no longer beta, iOS 17.6 [or any iOS 17.x update] downgrade will only be available for a limited time... What if Apple never reverts Photos app back to its pre-iOS 18 beta form, not only will you be unable to downgrade but you will be forced to like the Photos app or use an entirely different app for managing photos and videos...

I'm not asking to have every version released to be re-signed or allowed for downgrade [in iTunes or Finder] but just the final update of every version, iOS 16.x, iOS 15.x, iOS 14.8.1, iOS 13.7, iOS 12.x, iOS 11.4.1, iOS 10.x, iOS 9.x, iOS 8.4.1, iOS 7.1.2, iOS 6.x, iOS 5.1.1, iOS 4.x

Once Apple allows downgrade to versions several years ago, then some very old devices will be able to have very good speed and performance at the cost of security and new features...

I still have a working [pre-owned] iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s that I would like to downgrade to iOS 4/5/6 and just use for basic calls and text, and I think iMessage and FaceTime would still work on those old versions...

Now that Apple finally switched to USB Type C from Lightning, the EU should focus next on allowing iOS/iPadOS downgrade as part of right to repair...

 

[Lethen]

Here's what's preventing me from moving all our 50.000 family photos from a USB-drive organized in folders with name of event, into Photos to share library with my wife (shared library):

While it can import folder names as albums for me in the Photos app, my wife will just se a bunch of 50.000 unorganized photos - she would have to create all the albums her self - NOT gonna happen.

 

[daveedjackson]

Wonder if the AirPlay from a website video player/stream will be fixed.

 

[macbookj0e]

I still wish Photos would support multiple libraries like it does on macOS. I would prefer keeping all the memes entirely separate from my other images, albums are not enough.

Exactly why do they insist on giving us features we don’t want and ignore those that we do?!

I feel this is just a change for changes sake.

I’m not updating to ios18 until they revert this back following the Public outcry lol

 

[koolzero]

I very much hate the update, it's so much more difficult to find folders, especially the favorites folder. Maybe I'll get used to it but it just seems like such a huge mess now and not user friendly or intuitive. The old layout was super simple.

 

[MNWildFan]

I very much hate the update, it's so much more difficult to find folders, especially the favorites folder. Maybe I'll get used to it but it just seems like such a huge mess now and not user friendly or intuitive. The old layout was super simple.

I agree

On the old one prior to now, you would have what was such a logical layout with all the folders and everything

Whoever thought it was a good idea to be like "Oooh, you know what needs an interface change? The photos app!" should be ashamed

 

[SebCohen]

…and still no support for Keywords or Smart Albums in iOS or iPadOS.

Wow. Those features must be so intense that not even custom Apple Silicon can handle them on a mobile device.

I have curated my keywords like I’m going to live forever! So so SO easy to quickly find stuff…..after I’ve spent all my spare time adding them to ALL MY PHOTOS SINCE 1997!

 

[anthony131]

I‘m not on the beta but based on your previous post, I will not be upgrading to the new OS strictly because of how horrible Photos is becoming. The current version of Photos is already a UX dud and this appears to be going very far in the wrong direction. Photos needs to be simplified, not made more complex. And the desktop tools need to make their way to iPad (at least).

Apple, and nearly every other developer of user experiences, seems to be set to make our lives more and more complex as technology “improves”. It’s frustrating and directing me towards older tech (like my iPod, my real camera, and my physical journal) to enjoy my life and get things done.

I had been a beta tester for over fifteen years. The UX direction Apple has taken in the last few years has had me disable my beta account. I’ve gotten rid of my Apple Watch this past year because Apple wholly disabled the ability to use the watch. I’ve disabled all app and OS auto-updates across the board. I’m done allowing these companies to make my life more frustrating and complex. I’m constantly reviewing my apps and services to see what I can delete and focus on just the bare minimum level of reliance and help from technology.

This change to Photos itself isn’t worth the frustration I’m expressing. But it’s the small and big changes to the most used apps and background services on a near-daily basis that’s forcing me to step away. What’s more frustrating is the feeling that people aren’t even aware of the alternatives or of a time when things were more intuitive. These changes are just accepted and even reveled by the innocently ignorant. These changes are used to write blog posts to generate clicks and ad revenue. Bad News is better than no news. Any change is better than boredom. Any emotional reaction is better than none.

 

[ifxf]

Just give us a "Recents" album as the main view for this app, and forgo adding gimmicks to that page.

All I want is remember where I left it. Like many other Apple apps, it eventually resets itself to the Apple default view.

 

[tvdsm]

Here's what's preventing me from moving all our 50.000 family photos from a USB-drive organized in folders with name of event, into Photos to share library with my wife (shared library):

While it can import folder names as albums for me in the Photos app, my wife will just se a bunch of 50.000 unorganized photos - she would have to create all the albums her self - NOT gonna happen.

Is it still the case in iOS 18 beta that albums/folders are not synced to the shared library for other participants? 😩