What's New in the iOS 27 Photos App

[MacRumors]

The Photos app is one of a handful of apps that Apple paid extra attention to in iOS 27. It has multiple improvements to performance, and several quality-of-life upgrades. There are also new AI photo editing tools that use Apple Intelligence.

AI Tools

There is a set of AI photo editing tools in the Photos app, accessible by tapping on the icon featuring three sliders, and then selecting the Apple Intelligence icon labeled "Tools."

Clean Up

Clean Up uses new AI models, and it's better at removing objects. The original version of Clean Up was best for small items with little complexity in the surrounding area, but now it is able to do more work reconstructing backgrounds with generative AI.

There are now three options for object removal. Fast works more quickly and can still be used for simple edits, while High Quality works better for more detailed scenes. Auto lets the Photos app decide which option is best.

Extend

Extend lets you change the crop of an image, expanding the borders around content to zoom out a bit or change the photo's composition. It uses generative AI to fill in missing areas, and you can adjust the borders with pinch gestures.

Apple also uses the Extend feature for expanding iPhone Lock Screen wallpapers that don't quite fit the display.

Reframe

Reframe can change the perspective of the photo, making adjustments to the angle of a person or object. It draws on the spatial information the iPhone gathers when a photo is taken, and combines it with AI to change the angle of the camera in post-processing. The spatial data is used for adjusting the subject of the image, and then AI fills in any pixels that are missing.

Reframe uses touch and drag gestures to adjust perspective, and two fingers for panning, zooming, or rotating an image to get the right angle.

Image Playground

While not part of the Photos app, the Image Playground app can be used to make photorealistic edits to your image. If you have a photo of a friend and want to add a hat or an accessory that looks real, you can do so with Image Playground. You can select specific areas in an image to modify and make AI edits using natural language, plus there's an option to combine images.

Image Playground can be used for free, but there will be daily caps, with extra usage available through iCloud+ plans.

Videos to Photos

You can now save a frame of a video as an individual photo.

Metadata

Apple now lets you add keywords and star ratings to photos and videos in the Photos app. You can rate images with one to five stars and then filter images by rating.

Album Changes

Apple improved album organization in iOS 27 and added new features for Shared Albums, including an option for Android and Windows users to contribute to iCloud albums.

• Shared Albums can be filtered by photos or videos.
• It's easier to save images from Shared Albums.
• You can set Shared Albums to expire after 30 days, which is useful for sharing photos without having a permanent album.
• It's easier to invite people to Shared Albums with a dedicated "Create Shared Album" option in any album menu.
• You can create a link for people to upload images to a Shared Album, and there are new permissions so you can require explicit access to be granted.
• Shared Albums have a recent activity log.
• You can react to images in Shared Albums with any emoji.

Slideshows

You can create a slideshow from any album or collection of images in the Photos app instead of being limited to what's in the Memories section. Just tap into an album, tap the icon in the upper right of the display, and choose "Start Slideshow." Alternatively, select several photos and then follow the same steps from the main Library interface.

Slideshows can be customized with transition styles, slide duration, and background music. The resulting file can be shared on social media, and saved as a video.

Utilities

There are two new Utilities folders in the Photos app. Captured by Me includes all of the images that you've taken from the Camera app on your current or past iPhone, while Identity Documents aggregates pictures of passports, licenses, and similar documents.

iCloud

In the Photos section of the Settings app, there's a "Sync Immediately" option that lets you prioritize immediate iCloud uploads for the day.

With the setting enabled, iCloud Photos will sync as soon as new images enter the Photos Library instead of holding uploads to save battery.

Full-resolution photos and videos can be added to iCloud Shared Albums, with support for all common photo and video formats.

Other Changes

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Article Link: What's New in the iOS 27 Photos App

 

[Hammerd]

I can’t tell wether it’s amazing or scary. Probably both. Nothing is real anymore

 

[M4irmidnight]

The Photos app is one of a handful of apps that Apple paid extra attention to in iOS 27. It has multiple improvements to performance, and several quality-of-life upgrades. There are also new AI photo editing tools that use Apple Intelligence.

AI Tools

There is a set of AI photo editing tools in the Photos app, accessible by tapping on the icon featuring three sliders, and then selecting the Apple Intelligence icon labeled "Tools."

Clean Up

Clean Up uses new AI models, and it's better at removing objects. The original version of Clean Up was best for small items with little complexity in the surrounding area, but now it is able to do more work reconstructing backgrounds with generative AI.

There are now three options for object removal. Fast works more quickly and can still be used for simple edits, while High Quality works better for more detailed scenes. Auto lets the Photos app decide which option is best.

Extend

Extend lets you change the crop of an image, expanding the borders around content to zoom out a bit or change the photo's composition. It uses generative AI to fill in missing areas, and you can adjust the borders with pinch gestures.

Apple also uses the Extend feature for expanding iPhone Lock Screen wallpapers that don't quite fit the display.

Reframe

Reframe can change the perspective of the photo, making adjustments to the angle of a person or object. It draws on the spatial information the iPhone gathers when a photo is taken, and combines it with AI to change the angle of the camera in post-processing. The spatial data is used for adjusting the subject of the image, and then AI fills in any pixels that are missing.

Reframe uses touch and drag gestures to adjust perspective, and two fingers for panning, zooming, or rotating an image to get the right angle.

Image Playground

While not part of the Photos app, the Image Playground app can be used to make photorealistic edits to your image. If you have a photo of a friend and want to add a hat or an accessory that looks real, you can do so with Image Playground. You can select specific areas in an image to modify and make AI edits using natural language, plus there's an option to combine images.

Image Playground can be used for free, but there will be daily caps, with extra usage available through iCloud+ plans.

Videos to Photos

You can now save a frame of a video as an individual photo.

Metadata

Apple now lets you add keywords and star ratings to photos and videos in the Photos app. You can rate images with one to five stars and then filter images by rating.

Album Changes

Apple improved album organization in iOS 27 and added new features for Shared Albums, including an option for Android and Windows users to contribute to iCloud albums.

• Shared Albums can be filtered by photos or videos.
• It's easier to save images from Shared Albums.
• You can set Shared Albums to expire after 30 days, which is useful for sharing photos without having a permanent album.
• It's easier to invite people to Shared Albums with a dedicated "Create Shared Album" option in any album menu.
• You can create a link for people to upload images to a Shared Album, and there are new permissions so you can require explicit access to be granted.
• Shared Albums have a recent activity log.
• You can react to images in Shared Albums with any emoji.

Slideshows

You can create a slideshow from any album or collection of images in the Photos app instead of being limited to what's in the Memories section. Just tap into an album, tap the icon in the upper right of the display, and choose "Start Slideshow." Alternatively, select several photos and then follow the same steps from the main Library interface.

Slideshows can be customized with transition styles, slide duration, and background music. The resulting file can be shared on social media, and saved as a video.

Utilities

There are two new Utilities folders in the Photos app. Captured by Me includes all of the images that you've taken from the Camera app on your current or past iPhone, while Identity Documents aggregates pictures of passports, licenses, and similar documents.

iCloud

In the Photos section of the Settings app, there's a "Sync Immediately" option that lets you prioritize immediate iCloud uploads for the day.

With the setting enabled, iCloud Photos will sync as soon as new images enter the Photos Library instead of holding uploads to save battery.

Full-resolution photos and videos can be added to iCloud Shared Albums, with support for all common photo and video formats.

Other Changes

... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: What's New in the iOS 27 Photos App

Can someone test if they brought back searching by image number ? For example, searching “IMG3533” … it used to work in iOS 17 but was removed when they had that last big photos update . Now only works on macOS.

I used it a lot to see if I had the same photo already on both devices.

 

[floku]

I would be interested to know if star ratings and keywords sync across iCloud Shared Photo Library?

And how the new search in Photos works. Can you search for smart albums and keywords?

Can you sort the Smart albums list e.g. alphabetically?

 

[Unity451]

I'm all for using AI for quick edits and design shortcuts and whatnot, but we all agree that an AI generated/edited photo is not real in the same way an actual photo is real, right?

 

[Drawer]

Can someone test if location data can be set en mass? It’s possible now on a Mac, but missing in iOS 26.

 

[iFanaddic]

What app icons should have looked like in iOS 27 (and 26) 🥲🪦

 

[JensenKA]

Man that generative AI stuff is gross. Here’s hoping Apple implements a master “I don’t want this garbage” switch in settings.

Otherwise I might be on my iPhone 13 way, way longer than I thought.

 

[Insert_Username_Here]

Can someone test if location data can be set en mass? It’s possible now on a Mac, but missing in iOS 26.

You can do this in iOS 26. Select some photos, choose the three dots at the top, chose adjust location.

 

[macguy167]

What about the `all` folder that doesn't remove photos when they are placed in a sub-folder, so screenshots of documents are mixed in with the person photos. Poor design!

 

[seinman]

Is there still a 15-minute limit on videos in shared albums?

 

[CrabQueenInc]

Has Apple improved the view options? View by date captured and date added are only available in certain parts of Photos in iOS 18. Are there any options to filter by file size or file type such as JPEG, RAW, etc.? Is selecting photos in Messages less cumbersome?

 

[Berti10]

„Full Res. Pictures“ in Shared Albums is missing in the list.

 

[seinman]

„Full Res. Pictures“ in Shared Albums is missing in the list.

And videos! This is the new feature I’m most excited about.

 

[SBlue1]

Man that generative AI stuff is gross. Here’s hoping Apple implements a master “I don’t want this garbage” switch in settings.

Otherwise I might be on my iPhone 13 way, way longer than I thought.

Wait what, you mean I MUST use AI even if I don't want to?

 

[johnsawyercjs]

I'm not seeing the icon/button with three sliders to bring up the AI options, but my iPhone is still on the New Siri waitlist, so I'm guessing that's the reason.

Interesting that Apple chose to address the issue of whether to change the name "Siri" to something else for this update, by just adding "New".

 

[emulajavi]

Still no ‘macOS Photos’ Smart Albums support.

I’d like that iOS Photos App had a filter like ‘show/hide photos included in any album’

 

[fastthumbs]

View attachment 2637597

What app icons should have looked like in iOS 27 (and 26) 🥲🪦

Hard disagree. Idk why macrumors has to cook up these wack-ass graphics; just use the real app icon. Working hard to make it look worse

 

[211]

Is there a reason why I can't see any of this in the Mac Photos app? Has any Apple A.I. been introduced in the Mac app?

 

[fastthumbs]

Hard disagree. Idk why macrumors has to cook up these wack ass graphics; just use the real app icon. Working hard to make it look worse

The glass effect also doesn’t bring blurred content into focus, it does the opposite. I don’t understand what they’re trying to accomplish here

 

[JensenKA]

Wait what, you mean I MUST use AI even if I don't want to?

I don’t even want to see the option to use it.

 

[lgsoltek]

Can i(Pad)OS photos app finally show smart albums synced from macOS???

 

[triumvirate]

The “AI” features here are truly just about creating lies. None of these AI generated/edited photos will be remotely real things. Even the previous color filters available were at least re-shading real things that actually existed. I no longer believe photos my friends or family send me are real unless they state otherwise, and even then, I assume most of the image is still AI slop.

Even the “Clean up” tool is removing things that were REALLY there, creating some fake reality. I suppose photoshop has been doing similar things, but it was done generally by a human doing often professional work, and not by 99% of the people you talk to every day. I do not see this as an improvement overall and it’s one of those “just because you can…” scenarios imo.

 

[fatTribble]

Apple improved album organization in iOS 27

Does anyone know what specifically has changed?
I keep seeing blurbs like this but without any details about improved album organization.

 

[Momento_Mori]

The “AI” features here are truly just about creating lies. None of these AI generated/edited photos will be remotely real things. Even the previous color filters available were at least re-shading real things that actually existed. I no longer believe photos my friends or family send me are real unless they state otherwise, and even then, I assume most of the image is still AI slop.

Even the “Clean up” tool is removing things that were REALLY there, creating some fake reality. I suppose photoshop has been doing similar things, but it was done generally by a human doing often professional work, and not by 99% of the people you talk to every day. I do not see this as an improvement overall and it’s one of those “just because you can…” scenarios imo.

Yeah, I think Apple has let us down again …. Unfortunately 🥱🥱