I really dislike the Photos app redesign in iOS 18, but since we can’t do much about it (other than downgrade to iOS 17), I’ve made the most of it by adjusting the settings among other things. This guide includes tips that I’ve used to improve my Photos app experience, so that you can do the same on your device.
1. Auditing Current Albums in the Photos App
Before downloading iOS 18, I hadn’t audited my Photos app albums since 2020. It was long overdue, and I deleted almost every album that no longer was relevant. Now, all of my albums are either from particularly memorable past trips or for organizing pictures I’ve imported from Lightroom.
The first step to auditing them is to scroll down, and select the Albums tab.
For me, some albums had no photos in them, as I’d already deleted them from my phone, and these were the first to go. Press the album cover, then select Delete Album.
Confirm your choice by selecting Delete Album again.
Repeat this process for all albums with pictures that you want to remove.
2. Edit Pinned Collections
Pinned Collections are useful for accessing folders and other features of the new Photos app that you frequently use. For example, I like having easy access to my Favorites and the Map tool. After updating my iPhone software to iOS 18, I customized my Pinned Collections by selecting Modify.
The next page shows you everything you can pin. I wanted to keep this area as simple as possible, so I removed everything other than Favorites, Map, and Imports. The latter is particularly helpful if I want to share some of my professional photos on Instagram or other social media platforms (though you can make your iPhone photos look better with composition, lighting, and other components).
Hit the X button once you’ve finished customizing so that the changes can take effect.
3. Delete Duplicate Photos
Besides decluttering my albums, I saw the iOS 18 Photos app redesign as an opportunity to organize my (very messy) camera roll. I sometimes save the same picture twice without realizing it, and now was the perfect time to remove any lingering duplicates on my iPhone.
Scroll down to Utilities, and select the Duplicates tab.
I actually didn’t have a huge number of duplicates, but nonetheless, removing them organized my camera roll better (and decluttered my mind). To do the same, tap Select, and choose one of each duplicate to remove, before tapping the Trash icon in the bottom-right corner.
Confirm your choice by selecting Delete [Number] Photos.
4. Customize the Home Screen
Being unable to find anything on my Photos app home screen irritated me for a few days, but fortunately, I found a way to customize what I saw.
Start by going to Customize & Reorder at the bottom of the screen.
Untick almost everything to only leave the functions that I actually use. I also dragged each one to reorder based on importance.
Once you’re done customizing, tap the X icon again to make your changes take effect.
After organizing everything, I was much happier (and less overwhelmed) with my Photos app layout; you can see the final version below.
It’s early days, but maybe I’ll even grow to like the new design more than what Photos looked like pre-iOS 18.
At the very least, the redesign of the Photos app will take some time to get used to. Nonetheless, I recommend customizing it as much as possible to meet your needs. Decide what you would like to adjust, then follow the steps above to simplify the new layout. You may also want to check out other iOS 18 features, such as Distraction Control.
Image credit: Canva. All screenshots by Danny Maiorca.
