Photos app on iPhone and iPad: The ultimate guide

Photos on iPhone 11 Pro (Image credit: iMore)

Jump to:

Navigate Photos
Organize Photos and videos
Use Memories in the Photos app
Add, remove, and change people
Rotate, crop and Straighten pictures
Adjust light and color
Apply filters
Markup images
Use extensions in Photos
Make slideshows in Photos
Print and Share photos

The Photos app on iPhone and iPad is one of the best tools to organize, edit and share your pictures. The app offers many editing features for your iPhone, and it can even compete with some of the best photo editing app on your Mac.

Whether you're a professional photographer or you're just starting to learn how to use the Camera app on your iPhone, learning how to manage and organize your picture through Photos is essential. Trying to learn everything in a day can be overwhelming, especially if you're just starting out. Luckily, you'll find everything you need to know about the Photos app on iPhone right here. You can always come back here when you need it. We'll keep updating this page with any new features Apple adds to Photos.

How to navigate Photos for iPhone and iPad

To help keep your pictures and videos organized, the Photos app automatically sorts them into smart groups based on time and location. You can see your pictures by day, month, or year. With them, you can quickly glance at when and where you were, scrub through everything and anything, see a map view of your photos spread out across the world, and even copy a photo to the clipboard so you can insert it into a message. There are still albums you can access as well. And all of it with just a few taps and swipes!

How to organize photos and videos into albums on your iPhone or iPad

The Photos app on iPhone and iPad gives you quick and easy access to all your pictures and videos. Camera Roll/All Photos, My Photos Stream, Panoramas, Videos, even Selfies all have their own dedicated albums. While you can't change or delete any of those, you can add and manage albums of your own. That way, exactly the photos you want are exactly where you want them.

How to use Memories in Photos for iPhone and iPad

Best photo backup services for iPhone, iPad, and Mac (Image credit: iMore)

Great digital cameras like on the iPhone and iPad mean we can take as many photos as we want, whenever we want. That's amazing because we can record any moment, at any time. It's also terrible because we end up with so many photos we forget about the ones we took even a short time ago. By using Memories on your iPhone or iPad, you can forget about forgetting your pictures with a few taps.

How to add, remove, change, or hide People in Photos

Apple uses machine learning to recognize people inside your images and identify the same person in multiple photos. Like Facebook's algorithm, it's not perfect, but it's easy enough to correct. Here's how you can view common faces, put names to them, remove faces that have been misidentified, and hide faces you don't particularly want to see.

How to rotate, crop, and straighten in Photos for iPhone and iPad

How to make slideshows, contacts and wallpapers from Photos for iPhone and iPad (Image credit: iMore)

Most of us don't frame every photo perfectly when we shoot it. That's why Apple provides editing tools right inside the Photos app that let you straighten, rotate, crop, and even change your pictures' aspect ratio easily. That way, you get your photos, and you get them framed just the way you want them.

How to use adjust light, color, and B&W in Photos for iPhone and iPad

Smart adjustments in Photos let you enhance your images, either automatically, intuitively, or precisely. The Magic wand is still there, of course, but you can also change light, color, and black and white with a swipe, or dive down into brightness, warmth, and other details. Crank it up, crush it down, or go gray. It's all up to you!

How to apply filters in Photos for iPhone and iPad

Filters were once used to try and salvage the often-poor images captured by iPhone cameras. Now that iPhones have good cameras, filters are simply a way to have some fun. Flashes are another story. You can now apply live filters right from the Camera app.

How to markup images in Photos for iPhone and iPad

Did you know that the Photos app has a markup editor natively built-in? With the Markup editor, you're able to draw and doodle on your photos, add callouts to highlight specific areas of an image, and add text for funny captions. You can definitely get creative with your photos with markup, so feel free to let loose!

How to use the Markup editor in the Photos app on iPhone and iPad

How to use extensions in Photos for iPhone and iPad

Best Thin Cases for iPhone 11 Pro (Image credit: iMore)

The Photos app works as a central hub for filters and effects pulled from all the extensibility-compatible editing apps you've downloaded from the App Store. Find the apps, install them, enable them, and then you can apply them all right from the Photos app. Best of all, they're non-destructive. That means you can change, remove, and revert them at any time.

How to make slideshows, contacts, and wallpapers from Photos for iPhone and iPad

Want to show off your pictures and videos to friends and family? You can create custom wallpapers and contact pictures, and even custom slideshows with automagic animations, transitions, and music that you can share on your iPhone or iPad or send to your Apple TV over AirPlay.

WhatsApp message thread on iPhone X (Image credit: Luke Filipowicz/iMore)

Keeping all your pictures and videos in the Photos app is incredibly convenient, but sometimes you just want to share them with others. That's where the Share Sheet comes in. With it, you can send pictures and videos through AirDrop, iMessage, Mail, iCloud, Twitter, Facebook, and more. You can even use AirPrint to make hard copies of your favorite images.

You can search for photos by typing in places or dates, or you can search by telling Siri where and when you want to look for. Say "May 2019," and you'll go right back. Ask for "Cupertino," and you'll be there. Combine the places and times, and Siri will take you anywhere — and anywhen — you want to go.