iOS 18: How to Customize and Reorder the Photos App

[MacRumors]

Apple's iOS 18 brings a significant redesign to the Photos app, introducing a unified Library View that consolidates all sections into a single, scrollable interface. While this new layout aims to streamline navigation, you may want to tailor it to your preferences. Here's how you can customize and reorder collections in the new Photos app.

Understanding Collections in Photos

In iOS 18, everything outside the main photo grid in the Photos app is considered a "Collection." These include:

• Recent Days: Chronological view of your latest photos, similar to the previous iOS 17 Days view. Tap to see your entire library sorted by date.
• Albums: Access all your created albums, including those shared with others.
• People and Pets: AI-organized albums of individuals and animals. New Group feature automatically clusters frequent companions, with manual creation option.
• Memories: Auto-generated slideshows, now featuring Apple Intelligence Memory Maker for enhanced presentations.
• Trips: Location-based photo collections. View your travels organized by year.
• Shared Albums: Collaborative photo collections shared between users.
• Pinned Collections: Quick access to your most important albums or collections.
• Featured Photos: AI-curated showcase of your best shots, updated regularly.
• Media Types: Filter photos by capture mode (e.g., Live Photos, Portrait, Panoramas) or file type (e.g., Screenshots, Screen Recordings).
• Utilities: Smart filters for practical image types like handwritten notes or receipts.
• Wallpaper Suggestions: AI-selected images optimized for device wallpapers, with customizable visual elements.

Each collection offers different ways to view and organize your photos, from auto-generated slideshows to filters for specific types of images.

How to Customize and Reorder Collections

You can easily change the order of collections and choose which ones to display. By customizing your collections, you can prioritize the features you use most often, making your photo browsing experience more tailored to your needs. To do so, simply follow these steps:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the main view.
3. Tap the Customize and Reorder option.
4. In the customization menu, you can deselect the checkmark next to a collection to remove it from view, and tap and hold the three bars next to a collection, then drag to rearrange its position.
5. Once you're satisfied with your changes, tap the "X" in the top right corner to exit and return to the main Photos view.

Remember, you can always return to this menu to make further adjustments as your preferences change. As you explore the redesigned Photos app, take some time to experiment with different collection arrangements. You might discover new ways to interact with your photo library that enhance the overall experience.

Article Link: iOS 18: How to Customize and Reorder the Photos App

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Turned them all off. Better, but still, now have this 👇 in the way. Photos in iOS 17 was nicer with a good implementation for communicating total photo and video count. Bottom tab bar should have stayed with "Recents" album renamed as "Library" and set as default view and leftmost menu item. With the other two tab bar buttons as "Albums" and "Search". The buttons could be draggable/editable with a long press to enter edit mode. Users could have up to five items on the bar with the leftmost changing default view—personalised app with a clean result.

 

[DMG35]

The photos app is a mess. Whatever intern that was allowed to design this atrocity needs to go back to the mail room.

 

[Account25476]

I don’t like it either guys, but I’m sure that at the end we’ll all get used to it. Just still find a bit weird that macOS and iPadOS app has still sidebar though.

 

[RemedyRabbit]

I like the customisation options for the albums etc, I just wish they’d left the main library in a separate tab.

 

[gank41]

Customization can be great. But completely ruining the Photos app and then letting everyone “make it their own” means that after a few short months, no one will have the same look or set of collections. Everyone’s will be different.

All because people are trying to make it as close as possible to how it was prior. And unfortunately it only makes things worse. I’m not sure what’s worse, using the photos app less because of how bad it is, or trying to help family and friends customize it.

 

[TwoBytes]

But you can't just show your camera roll in the main library - it shows everything - even old pictures saved in albums to your phone

 

[dadiy]

Anyone know a quick way to get to the map view?

 

[philstubbington]

It would be good if you could easily display captions on photographs - especially on an Apple TV.

 

[philstubbington]

Anyone know a quick way to get to the map view?

Pinned collections … map.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Pinned collections … map.

How intuitive 😂

 

[spac3duck]

I don’t understand how they still haven’t been able to implement Smart Folders like they have on macOS: https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/photos/pht6d60ca71/mac

 

[PhoenixAnhart]

Photos seems to still be something that even Apple has been unable to reduce the complexity of. It's way more confusing and annoying than the previous design.

 

[Volk.JP]

Anyone know a quick way to get to the map view?

Add it to pinned collections

 

[contacos]

I hid everything besides Albums. Now I can live with it again.

What would actually have been useful is to show me which photos in my endless feed have yet to be sorted into Albums or tell me what Album photo X is part of. On my Samsung device I can tell by a little indicator on the thumbnail.

It is so hard to sort photos into albums on iOS unless you do it right away because I am always like "hmmmm did I already sort those photos into Albums? hmmm where did I leave off last time".

I also don't understand the "on this day" memories push notifications like Id expect it to be from actually last year at this time? instead its just a random collection of some time in September of last year. That ain't "on this day"

 

[gank41]

Add it to pinned collections

This is unfortunately the only way to keep the old style folders at the top. I ALWAYS use the Favorites folder and the Maps folder, along with Screenshots. But I want the Utilities and Media Types at the top. Pinned Collections under that and then People and Pets under that. It's definitely not ideal- having to try and "make the best of it" after these unwanted changes. Was so much better when there was just the dedicated tabs at the bottom.

 

[TechnoTiger3000]

I agree that it’s a mess now more than ever, the fact that you have to swipe down twice to get your roll rolling is infuriating.

Yet basic functionality is in decline for years now.

 

[macbookj0e]

This app has stopped me updating to ios18 and will likely for a very long time.

 

[CaféPicasso]

Turned them all off, too. When I open the app, I hate to see this huge "Customise & Reorder"-Button with all this white space around it instead of my photos. That's really bad design.

 

[gank41]

Oh! Another PSA for everyone reading, if you find that your photos aren't syncing across to your other devices, and you no longer see "Resume" at the bottom of your folders, you now have to tap your Profile icon in the top right to get at more options and stuff, and resume is listed there.

More Taps ≠ Better

 

[Artsketch]

Not only the Photo App needs some rework, Apple should fix the 48MP ProRAW image conversion bug: Quick Actions>Convert Image>File Format: HEIF>Image Size: Original, is creating only 12MP 4032x3024 HEIC files in iOS18 because wrong dimensions metadata are applied.

 

[prymitywista]

Photo app in ios18 is a joke. Not gonna upgrade until they gonna fix it. So far so good on the previous iOS.

 

[klasma]

I agree that it’s a mess now more than ever, the fact that you have to swipe down twice to get your roll rolling is infuriating.

Yet basic functionality is in decline for years now.

Exactly. And then people wonder Why all the negativity. Because Apple spends a lot of energy on chasing rainbows, but basic functions don’t improve or get worse.

 

[sani_atl]

I would prefer iOS 18s photo app to be on my Mac not on my phone. It's too cluttered for what I want on my phone.

 

[timborama]

No matter how many settings you change, rearrange or pin collections there is still no previous versions Recents/Roll equivalent… dealbreaker!

Other issues… synced albums intermix with device photos in the library (yet shared albums do not), looping video playback is annoying AF, video editing is annoying AF, etc, etc.