The Photos app in iOS 16 gets some big additions that Apple has been announcing since it previewed the software update in June. But a handful of small changes to the photo browsing and editing app on your iPhone are meant to introduce new ways to organize and adjust images once the full iOS 16 update arrives in the fall.
iOS 16’s marquee change to Photos is iCloud Photo Sharing Library, a new addition that promises to make sharing and editing pictures with family members a more seamless affair. However, we’ve already shown you how to set up a Shared iCloud Photo Library, as it’s likely to be one of the first features you’ll try when you download the iOS 16 public beta.
Similarly, one of the most impressive additions to iOS 16 in general is the ability to theme a photo out of its background so you can paste it into other apps installed on your iPhone, like Notes, Messages, and Mail. However, the feature is tied to iOS 16’s updated visual search capability, and while it will primarily pull a theme from photos stored in your photo library, it can also do the same for images in Safari and QuickLook. as screenshots, as I found when working on my iOS 16 beta hands-on.
Another High Profile Photos addition in iOS 16 takes advantage of Live Text, the capability Apple introduced last year that lets you tap text on still photos to copy it or perform quick tasks like address searches, phone calls, or web browsing. iOS 16 Live Text extends the feature to text included in paused videos, and we’ll show you how to copy text into a video with Live Text.
As big as those three additions are, they’re not the only changes Apple is making to iOS 16 Photos. Take a look at the app in the available public beta and you’ll find a host of new editing tools aimed at making it easier to make changes to your various photos, even if it means making those changes all at once. You also have new tools to manage photos in your library.
If you want to see what’s new in Photos in iOS 16 beyond the shared iCloud Photo Library and Apple’s enhanced intelligence features, you’ve come to the right place.
Copy and paste edits on photos and videos
When you make changes to a photo, you now have the ability to copy those changes and paste them onto a second image, thanks to a new capability in Photos in iOS 16. Let’s say there’s a particular filter you’ve found for a photo that you’d like to apply to it. another photo you took at the same event – copy and paste can take care of that, or you can use it to copy the contrast settings. , lighting, exposure, or other adjustments instead of having to make the same adjustments over and over again.
This is how photo editing works, copy and paste. After editing a photo to your liking, tap the Actions menu in the top right corner (the circle with three dots in the middle). A menu will appear from the bottom with an option to copy your edits. Head over to the next photo you want to edit and tap the action item menu once more – the Paste Edits option will appear in the drop-down menu.
You can apply edits to multiple photos at once through the miracle of batch processing. Simply select a group of photos in your library, select the action item menu (it’s now at the bottom right of the screen), and select Paste Edits from the menu that appears.
Copy-and-paste photo edits seem to be a real time saver for iOS 16 Photos users, particularly those who take advantage of batch processing.
New editing commands for undo and redo
Let’s say you’re adjusting the exposure of a photo and you’ve made one adjustment too many. Instead of having to drag your exposure settings back to where you started, you can now skip to the new Undo/Redo arrows that Apple is adding to the Photos app in iOS 16.
These arrows appear in the upper left corner of the screen when you edit a photo. Tapping them allows you to reverse an edit or redo it if you decide you like the change after all. Undo/Redo also supports multiple editing steps, allowing you to go back to a previous edit if you prefer.
A new folder for duplicates
Finding duplicate images is easier than ever in iOS 16 Photos thanks to a new Duplicates folder that was added to iOS 16 beta 4. (It’s up to the developer now, but should show up in a post-public beta iOS update) 16 soon.)
To find the Duplicates folder, go to the Albums tab in Photos and scroll down the screen; it is located in Utilities. Inside the folder, you’ll find a list of duplicate images in your Photos library. Select the ones you want to merge and Photos will combine captions, keywords and other data into a single photo with the best quality.
more secure folders
Apple adds a layer of security to the Hidden and Recently Deleted folders in iOS 16. To keep the hidden pictures in those folders away from prying eyes, you now need to unlock your phone with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode to see what you see. it’s inside.
There’s even a helpful visual cue to let you know things have changed with Hidden and Recently Deleted: both folders now have a little lock icon alerting you to the beefed-up security. I always found it strange that you could hide a photo from your main library, but that anyone scrolling through Albums could find the hidden Photos folder, so this is a welcome change.
Quick actions for photo albums
It’s easier to add photos to albums and perform other tasks in iOS 16 Photos thanks to the addition of Quick Actions. Now when you long-press on an album thumbnail, a menu of options will appear. Available actions include adding photos, sharing album details, changing the album name, playing a memory video if the album has multiple photos, and displaying a map where the photos were taken with location data.
Turn off live photos
In some cases, you may have captured a Live Photo with a few seconds of video and sound when all you wanted was a still image. iOS 15 allows you to disable Live Elements, but it requires a few steps: You need to edit the photo and disable the feature via a special Live Photo section in the toolbar.
In iOS 16, all you have to do is select the photo. Tap the Live menu on the left side of the screen and simply select Off from the list of options that appear. The addition saves you an extra step or two.
new types of memory
Apple made so many changes to Memories features in iOS 15 that I called it one of the best reasons to upgrade to last year’s iPhone software update. The changes in iOS 16 aren’t that extensive, but the big change introduced this year points to Memories still being a pretty cool feature.
Apple says it’s adding new types of memories to Photos in iOS 16. The only additions Apple has specified are This Day in History, which presumably shows photos from a particular day and one involving children at play. (We’re assuming this does exactly what it says on the label.) I have yet to see photo collections based on these new memories in iOS 16 Photos, but I’m sure the existing types of memories Apple already supports will increase.
Other changes in iOS 16 Photos
Other additions to iOS 16 Photos are minor tweaks that should still streamline your activity in Photos. Chief among these changes is faster access to image actions. Instead of living in Share Sheet like they do in iOS 15, iOS 16 moves actions like duplicating, hiding, or adding a photo to an album to the Actions menu.
Other iOS 16 Photos changes include alphabetizing your People album and preventing selected memories and featured photos from appearing in Photos or the Photos widget.