Photos: Complete Guide to iOS 13
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
[doublepost=1561775342][/doublepost]When you receive phone calls does it still take over the entire screen? I was really hoping they fixed that.
The Photos app is one of the most important apps on the iPhone and iPad, housing all of the pictures that you've taken and offering up editing tools to make those images even better.
Over the course of the last few years, Apple has been steadily improving the Photos app with machine learning and other technologies to present your pictures in new and unique ways so you can do more than just view your photos - you can relive your memories. iOS 13 is no exception and has a slew of improvements that make the Photos app more useful than ever.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Updated Photos Tab Organization
The main Photos tab in the Photos app has been overhauled in iOS 13, with a new design that's meant to put your best photos front and center. In addition to the iOS 12-style option to view all of your photos, there are new options to view them by day, month, and year.
Each of the time-based viewing options cuts out clutter, like screenshots, photos of receipts, and duplicate images, displaying all of your best memories without the cruft. Photos are displayed in a tiled view, with your best images displayed as large squares surrounded by smaller related photos.
The Days view in the Photos app shows you the photos that you've taken organized by each day, while the Months view presents photos categorized into events so you can see the best parts of the month at a glance.
In the Years view, you can see subsections for each year. In the current year, it will flip through each month automatically so you can get an overview of each month, but Apple did something unique for past years. When you tap into an older year, like 2018 or 2017, you'll see photos taken around the same time of year.
So, for example, if it's June and you tap the 2017 tab in June, you'll see photos that were taken in June 2017. Tapping into a specific year in this view swaps over to the Month view, where you can further tap into a target month, which then swaps to the Day view. You can also swipe a finger over the photos in the Years view to see a glimpse of key images from each month.
In all of the sections, Apple highlights titles like location, concert performances, holidays, and more, so you know where your photos were taken.
The new Photos tab is separate from the "For You" section introduced in iOS 12. For You also shows you curated photos, but the Photos tab organizes them around specific dates while For You focuses on aggregating content from multiple dates like beach days, trips, specific people, pets, and more.
Both the new Photos tab and the For You view are great for surfacing your best memories, making the Photos app a great tool just for browsing through your photo library.[*]How to Use the New Photos Tab in iOS 13Autoplay Live Photos and Videos
In the new Photos tab, Live Photos and videos will autoplay silently so you can see a glimpse of action in the Day view, which brings the Photos tab to life and makes looking through your images a more dynamic, fun experience.
Extended Live Photos
When you have two or more Live Photos taken within 1.5 seconds of one another, there's a new Live Photos option that will play both at once as a short little video rather than just a quick animation in the Day view of the Photos tab.
Birthday Highlights
For your contacts you have photos of in the People album, if you have their birthdays assigned to them in the Contacts app, Apple will show you photos of the person in the "For You" section of the Photos app.
Screen Recordings Album
In iOS 13, if you capture a screen recording, it will be saved to a new Screen Recordings album automatically, much like screenshots go in the Screenshots album.
Overhauled Editing Interface
Apple in iOS 13 updated the editing interface in Photos, which you can get to whenever you tap on the "Edit" button on one of your pictures.
Rather than hiding editing tools down at the bottom of the image in a series of small icons, iOS 13 puts them front and center in a new slider that lets you scroll through each adjustment option. It kicks off with the standard Auto adjust, but if you swipe to the left on the editing tools, you can choose the specific adjustment that you need.
You can tap each edit you apply to see what the photo looks like before and after, so it's clear what each of the adjustments is doing. This new interface more closely mirrors third-party photo editing apps and puts more tools right at iPhone users' fingertips, making photo editing easier for everyone.
The editing tab in the Photos app has been updated to account for the new editing interface. When you open up edits, the adjustment tools are front and center, but if you tap the concentric circles icon on the left you can get to Live Photos adjustments where you can choose a new Key Photo.
On the right of the adjustment tool, there are filter options, and next to that, options for cropping and changing orientation.
Intensity Slider
For each editing tool, there's a slider that lets you tweak the intensity of the adjustment, which allows for more controlled edits than before. So, for example, you can select the "Exposure" adjustment tool to brighten or darken a photo and then use the slider to quickly get the desired effect. Intensity has specific numbers, so it's easy to tell how much of an effect has been applied at a glance.
New Editing Tools
In addition to overhauling the editing interface in Photos, Apple also added new tools for things like adjusting vibrance, white balance, sharpness, and more. Below, there's a list of all of the editing tools available in Photos in iOS 13:
[*]Auto
[*]Exposure
[*]Brilliance
[*]Highlights
[*]Shadows
[*]Contrast
[*]Brightness
[*]Black Point
[*]Saturation
[*]Vibrance
[*]Warmth
[*]Tint
[*]Sharpness
[*]Definition
[*]Noise Reduction
[*]Vignette
Apple has also improved the auto cropping and auto straightening features designed to make your photos look better with just a tap. When editing, you can use pinch to zoom to see the close-up details of a photo to get a better look at just what edits are doing to a particular area in an image.[*]How to Use the Editing Tools in PhotosFilter Intensity Adjustments
Though there are new editing tools available, the filters that Apple has long provided are there too. Filters in iOS 13 are more functional because the intensity of the filter can be adjusted using a new slider tool.
High-Key Mono Lighting Effect
iOS 13 adds a new effect to Portrait Lighting, High-Key Mono. High-Key Mono is a black and white effect that's similar to Stage Light Mono, but designed to add a white background rather than a black one.
High-Key Mono Lighting is limited to the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR.
Portrait Lighting Adjustment Tools
The Portrait Lighting effects added to Portrait Mode photos can be adjusted with a new slider option in iOS 13, which allows you to further tweak the added lighting. It's designed to allow you to adjust the intensity of the lighting, which can drastically change the look of a portrait image.
Portrait Lighting adjustment tools are limited to the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR.
Video Editing
There have been photo editing tools available in the Photos app for quite some time, but in iOS 13, many of the same tools are available for editing video for the first time.
Apple offers editing tools to adjust parameters like exposure, contrast, saturation, brightness, and more, plus there are built-in filters that you can apply. You can also use the same Auto adjust feature in videos that's long been available for photos to get a quick improvement.
Video editing tools, like photo editing tools, feature sliders to control the intensity of your adjustments so you can make dramatic or subtle changes to the lighting, brightness, and other elements and there continue to be available tools for adjusting video length.
There are also tools for straightening a video, adjusting the vertical alignment, adjusting the horizontal alignment, flipping the video, changing the orientation of the video, and cropping it.
None of these video editing tools were available in iOS 12, and these kinds of video edits have in the past required iMovie or another video editing app, but now video editing is as simple and straightforward as photo editing.
The Photos app isn't going to be suitable for complicated video edits where footage needs to be added or removed, but for simple tweaks, it's a useful tool that's going to be easy for even novice videographers to use.[*]How to Crop, Rotate, and Straighten Videos in iOS 13
[*]How to Apply a Filter to a Video in iOS 13
Guide Feedback
Have questions about Photos, know of an iOS 13 Photos feature we left out, or want to offer feedback on this guide? Send us an email here.
Article Link: Photos: What's New in iOS 13
redneckitengineer
macrumors 6502
I'm on ios13 as developer and to be honest, I don't like it. I hate how it sorts the photos, and its constantly swiping me to the different columns when i try to point something out in a photo, or zoom in. They've removed the all photos from the albums page. I don't need the "for you" tab. I would rather have the ios12 version. It's a shame I "have to accept" the changes.
hsotnicam8002
macrumors 6502
The icons for various functions are too small with not enough detail to then recognised them easily. This is where colour and realistic images used to help. With Sir Jonathan going maybe the iOS can colour up again?
FrankieTDouglas
macrumors 68000
That's cool. Can the "private" folder be password protected now, or is it still wide open for anyone holding your device to access?
DCIFRTHS
macrumors 65816
I really need a first party solution that requires the hidden album to be protected with biometric authentication. C’mon Apple, is it really that much to ask?
Edit: Oops. I now see someone already mentioned this.
riverfreak
macrumors 68000
And yet, somehow, you still can’t add a simple note to a photo, let alone place/correct locations on a map or add simple tags. Go figure.
CriticalVoice
macrumors member
I definitely second this!!!
Psychicbob
Cancelled
Brilliant! An even better way to arrange all the photos of people’s faces and what’s on their dinner plates. The world will be a better place when iOS 13 is released.
one more
macrumors 603
These improvements are nice and welcome, yet for me there are two main reasons I will stick with Google Photos for now:
1) Unlimited free storage, and, related
2) Not having to worry about huge iOS device backups or wait for hours for the photo libraries to be restored after fresh iOS installations.
“Privacy”, Apple’s new product
, is not an issue for me, as my Google Photos are linked to a random account anyway.
1) Unlimited free storage, and, related
2) Not having to worry about huge iOS device backups or wait for hours for the photo libraries to be restored after fresh iOS installations.
“Privacy”, Apple’s new product
, is not an issue for me, as my Google Photos are linked to a random account anyway.“Privacy”, Apple’s new product
Bad news. Google is smart enough to link your different accounts and relate your different activities back to you.
Porco
macrumors 68040
I hate that Apple have embraced autoplaying video so much lately (not just here - see also Safari allowing it everywhere and the new TVOS). I thought we got to a place where nearly everyone agreed it was a big no-no and stopped doing it. And now it seems like it’s back as an ‘I wanna be like Netflix’ fad. Ugh. Gross. I hope it dies as soon as possible. I find it incredibly irritating, whether it has sound or not.
I am also not a fan of all this algorithmic ‘deciding what photos I would want to see most’ stuff... a lot of times (in fact, I’d say 90%+ of the time) I might actually want to just see the most recent photos or screenshots I took, regardless of whether Apple might think a receipt or screenshot might be boring.
I guess Photos>All Photos is the closest to the camera roll then? Or is the camera roll still there? That’s really all I want in terms of views, a list of photos ordered in the order I took them.
The editing tools look a bit quicker to use, and with more options, so that looks like an improvement.
I am also not a fan of all this algorithmic ‘deciding what photos I would want to see most’ stuff... a lot of times (in fact, I’d say 90%+ of the time) I might actually want to just see the most recent photos or screenshots I took, regardless of whether Apple might think a receipt or screenshot might be boring.
I guess Photos>All Photos is the closest to the camera roll then? Or is the camera roll still there? That’s really all I want in terms of views, a list of photos ordered in the order I took them.
The editing tools look a bit quicker to use, and with more options, so that looks like an improvement.
macgabe
macrumors 6502
I think they're going in the wrong direction here. For me the iPhone camera is like eyes+memory - I don't just use it for pretty things and beautiful pictures. In fact at least half my pics - probably more - are screenshots, receipts, supermarket products, an injury on my knee (!) etc. I don't want these to be lost - that's the important stuff! I want them to catalogued efficiently and easily retrievable. But maybe hidden from other people.
DCIFRTHS
macrumors 65816
Autoplay is horrible. I am considering cancelling Netflix because there is no option to disable it. I HATE browsing on Netflix because of autoplay.
[doublepost=1561804916][/doublepost]
Definitely hidden from other people. My back surgery healing process is very well documented, and I like to keep it private. There’s so many personal photos that people take, and it seems that Apple is out of touch with the fact that many photos are personal in nature, and not for younger or everybody’s eyes.
Porco
macrumors 68040
I agree. In fact if it wasn't for two things I would have cancelled Netflix already primarily because of the autoplaying video previews:
1) For some reason the app on my main Amazon Fire TV doesn't do the autoplaying video (maybe it's bugged/glitched, I don't know, but that is never getting updated so long as that stays that way lol) and
2) Other people in the house who would not be happy if I cancelled it(!) (though they hate autoplaying video too, just not quite as much as me).
Autoplay is a UI Autofail! I think I'll add that to my signature.
I totally disagree - it doesn't make it a more fun experience, it makes it a more annoying experience (IMHO).
Last edited:
one more
macrumors 603
I am not worried about Google itself, I just don’t want a random third person to find my pictures online searching for them by my real name. However, even that would not be a major drama. A supposed “privacy” issue, for me, does not outweigh a convenience of having it all kept neatly in Google cloud and synched smoothly across my devices.
... Dashboard, now Camera Roll?
Hmmm all seems a bit arbitrary.
[doublepost=1561811988][/doublepost]
This is spot on. I use mine in exactly the same way. Even for injury! Lots of people do. It cuts down on paper work and really is a visual memory.
You take photos to remind you of something, it’s essentially a photo journal. Your camera rolls is as long as your thelife ahead of you.
Surely someone can confirm for sure - iOS13, users can still view a chronologically orders gallery of their photos?
Yay or Nay?
Hmmm all seems a bit arbitrary.
[doublepost=1561811988][/doublepost]
This is spot on. I use mine in exactly the same way. Even for injury! Lots of people do. It cuts down on paper work and really is a visual memory.
You take photos to remind you of something, it’s essentially a photo journal. Your camera rolls is as long as your thelife ahead of you.
Surely someone can confirm for sure - iOS13, users can still view a chronologically orders gallery of their photos?
Yay or Nay?
lorca22770
macrumors newbie
A monitor stand? I bit disingenuous of you, considering that the stand, as I understand (NO pun intended) is part of an exceptional monitor system, about 6.000. (please correct me) that members of the competition are selling over 40,000.
Dear Apple,
Privacy is not just about protecting things from others view. It’s also a state of mind, and some of us do not want artificial intelligence invading this area. In the photos app, I’d like to opt out of the “for you” feature, as well as the creation of a database of what’s in my pictures. I’d also like the option to save photos without the date recorded, just like you allow me to save without location.
Privacy is not just about protecting things from others view. It’s also a state of mind, and some of us do not want artificial intelligence invading this area. In the photos app, I’d like to opt out of the “for you” feature, as well as the creation of a database of what’s in my pictures. I’d also like the option to save photos without the date recorded, just like you allow me to save without location.
Last edited:
cameoflage
macrumors newbie
All I want is to be able to hide photos that are in an album so my “All photos” folder isn’t completely unorganized and unusable.
Just sayin...
macrumors 6502
Family sharing is what keeps my family and I locked into Google Photos. Every time a new photo is added to my Google Photos account, my wife can see it (and vice-versa). As far as I can tell, there is no way to automatically accomplish this using Apple’s photo products. I strongly encourage Apple to make this simple *OPTION* available to its’ iCloud customers.