At WWDC 2024, Apple announced many amazing features for iOS 18, including a major revamp of the Photos app. Besides a new design, Apple introduced several nifty features I think you’ll love. So without any further ado, here are five new Photos app features you must try after updating to iOS 18.
Pro Tip: Here are all the iPhones eligible for iOS 18 and AI (Apple Intelligence).
Table of Contents
1. Photo Filtering
This is one feature I always wanted to have, no matter which photo gallery app I use. Thanks to Apple, I can now filter out screenshots from my Library on my iOS 18-powered iPhone. And it doesn’t stop at screenshots – if I want, I can choose to view only videos as well. This makes navigating through my photos and videos so much easier. I hope Samsung or other Android manufacturers bring this feature to their native gallery apps.
2. Photo Search
The search feature in the new Photos app has completely amazed me. All I have to do is tap on the search icon and type “food,” and it sorts all my photos with food in them.
But that’s not all. The search feature is even crazier than I expected. When I searched for “videogame,” it not only found all the photos and videos related to it, but it also created timestamps in the videos wherever it detected a scene illustrating the videogame.
Food is just one example. I’ve also searched for receipts, lakes, mountains, and friends (I’ll talk more about this in the next section), and it worked flawlessly.
3. People and Pets
In earlier versions of iOS, like iOS 17, the Photos app could search for people. But with iOS 18, Apple has taken this feature to the next level. Now, when you name a person or pet in the Photos app, you can search for, say, “Sayan and Pratik,” and it will show only photos with Sayan and Pratik in them.
The search feature inside the app works so well that if you want to see a clip of your friend eating, just type the prompt, and it will find it for you. This feature makes it so much easier for me to find old photos and videos of my cherished memories.
4. Wallpaper Suggestions
This might not be for everyone, but personally, I love it. I enjoy photography but never really thought about setting any of my photos as wallpapers – until now. The Photos app in iOS 18 automatically picks the best-looking pictures from my library and suggests them as lock screen and home screen wallpapers. What’s more, it even adds filters to the photos. If I had to rate the wallpaper suggestions, I’d give them an 8 out of 10. It takes the guesswork out of the equation.
Also Read: 13 must-know tips to perfectly customize your iPhone lock screen
5. Utilities
Remember the Utilities section in the Albums tab? It’s become even more useful in iOS 18. Now, it categorizes your photos into multiple sets of utilities, such as QR codes, documents, drawings, receipts, handwriting, and more. In simple terms, if your photo has any document, it will create a Documents folder in the Utilities section.
That’s all for now. I hope that after updating to iOS 18, you’ll enjoy exploring the new features in the Photos app. Meanwhile, feel free to check out the other iOS 18 features we’ve covered.
