A good start iOS 18 It has been well received by iPhone fans, but the most controversial change has been this Apple‘Redesigned Photos app’.
At the TechRadar office and many other locations Reddit ThreadsMany fans are upset about a number of changes – one of the most disliked is Apple’s decision to remove the tabbed navigation bar, which used to reside at the bottom of an app’s screen.
Instead, Apple has adopted a scrolling design that, for many, makes the app slower and more laborious to use. Fortunately, there are also two handy customizations hidden within that can help you restore the app to something similar to the previous tab experience.
The first is the ability to change the order of the app’s long list of photo collections. To do this, scroll to the bottom of the app and tap ‘Customise and reorder’. This allows you to move your favourite collections, such as ‘Albums’ and ‘Recent Days’, to the top of the page.
If you want something closer to the old navigation bar, the main option to move to the top (so it’s just below your photo feed when you open the app) is ‘Pinned Collections’.
As the name suggests, this is a strip of shortcuts to your favourite photo sets. To change the order of these, tap ‘Modify’, and you can even move some of the old navigation bar favourites like ‘Albums’ back into a one-tap area without needing to scroll.
If your photo feed is full of screenshots, you can also delete them and restrict them to the Screenshots folder in a pinned collection. To do this, scroll up on the Photos app’s home screen until the menu bar appears at the bottom of the screen. Now tap the up-down arrow button, click ‘View options’ and then uncheck Screenshots.
While you may still need to relearn some muscle memory, these changes will at least make the Photos app less confusing and less cumbersome than before.
RIP Navigation Bar
It’s fair to say that the new Photos app has swapped old-school simplicity for a more modern look, and opinions on this vary. However, the undoubted positive aspect is that this approach comes with more customisation.
These options are somewhat buried or hidden in the UI — so while many people have been frustrated and puzzled when opening the new Photos app, luckily, there are ways to restore a more familiar experience.
That’s not to say there aren’t any legitimate complaints with Apple’s new app. One complaint is that video playback has taken a step back, with the scrub bar losing its thumbnail previews and videos need to be tapped to play full screen. Another complaint is that the app feels a little cluttered, with lots of automated collections vying for your attention – although you can use the ‘Customise and reorder’ menu to remove the ones you don’t want.
While some iPhone owners are holding off on updating to iOS 18 to retain their cozy familiar Photos app, they may be tempted to do so soon when Apple Intelligence The features are finally rolling out – with Apple today confirming they will begin rolling out in the US next month, and in the UK and Australia in December.