Photos (Apple)

Digital photograph manipulation application developed by Apple Inc

Photos

Photos app running in macOS Sequoia

Developer(s)| Apple Inc.
Operating system|

* iOS (all versions)
* iPadOS (all versions)
* OS X 10.10.3 onward
* watchOS (all versions)
* tvOS 10 onward
* visionOS (all versions)

Type| Photo gallery and editing software
Website| www.apple.com/macos/photos/
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Photos is a photo management and editing application developed by Apple. It was released as a bundled app in iPhone OS 1, and released as a bundled app to OS X Yosemite users in the 10.10.3 update on April 8, 2015, replacing iPhoto and Aperture. It was released for tvOS 10 on September 13, 2016. With the introduction of the Apple Vision Pro on the WWDC 2023 on June 5, 2023 the Photos app came to visionOS.

## History

[edit]

In June 2014, Apple announced its plan to discontinue the applications iPhoto and Aperture, to be replaced by a new application, Photos, in 2015.[1][2] The app was included with OS X Yosemite 10.10.3, released as a free update to users on April 8, 2015.[3][4][5]

On September 13, 2016, the app was later included in tvOS 10.[6]

With the introduction of the Apple Vision Pro on the WWDC 2023 on June 5, 2023, the Photos app came to visionOS.[7]

With iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, the Photos app received a comprehensive redesign at WWDC 2024, marking its biggest feature update since its introduction. The goal of the redesign was to improve usability, simplify library organization, and provide new AI-powered features. The previous structure with separate tabs such as “Library,” “Albums,” and “For You” was replaced by a unified, scrollable view. When users open the app, they first see their entire library in a compact grid. As they scroll further, automatically generated collections appear, organized thematically by people, pets, locations, or events. These collections can be individually customized, sorted, or pinned. The search function has been significantly improved and now supports natural language input, such as “Me with ice cream” or “Cat in a box.” Both photos and videos are searched, with specific scenes within videos being identifiable. Because of the integration with Apple Intelligence, enhanced editing tools are available. These include a new “Clean Up” tool that removes distracting objects from images, as well as a feature that automatically creates memories from photos and videos based on simple descriptive text.[8]

## Features

[edit]

Photos is intended to be less complex than its professional predecessor, Aperture.[3] Through version 4.0 (released with macOS 10.14 Mojave) the Photos app organized photos by "moment", as determined using combination of the time and location metadata attached to the photo.[5] Starting in version 5.0 (released in 2019 with macOS 10.15 Catalina), photos can instead be browsed by year, month, or day.

### Editing

[edit]

Photos includes robust editing functions that are utilized with simple controls, such as a one-click auto-enhance button.[9]

### iCloud Photo Library

[edit]

iCloud Photo Library is heavily integrated into the app, keeping photos and videos in sync with various Apple devices designated by the user (such as Macs, iPhones, and iPads), including edits and album structures.[10] iCloud integration is still optional, but it is much more central to Photos as compared to iPhoto.[9]

### Professional printing

[edit]

Like its predecessors, Photos initially included a number of options for professional printing of photos, which could then optionally be turned into books or calendars and mailed to an address. With Photos, Apple added new types of prints, including square sizes and the ability to print panoramas.[5] In July 2018, Apple announced, via a pop-up message in Photos, that they would be discontinuing these services, adding that users should submit any final orders by September 30, 2018.[11]

### Sharing

[edit]

iCloud Photo Sharing allows sharing photos with others. Others can view, like or comment existing shared photos or contribute new photos to the shared album.[12] Other ways of sharing includes e-mail, social platform that integrates through iOS Extensions, or Apple's peer-to-peer AirDrop technology.[13]

## Criticism

[edit]

Critics noted the loss of functionality in Photos as compared to its predecessors. For example, images could no longer be ordered as Events but were either automatically ordered chronologically into Moments or had to be put into albums. The latter did not allow for automatic sorting[14] and it was necessary to configure Smart Albums with customized user-defined rules to do so.[15] Customers who had been using the Aperture application, abandoned by Apple on the release of Photos, were particularly angry about loss of professional-standard functionality. Apple customers who upgraded to OS X 10.11 El Capitan, which was launched in 2015, found that if they had not first obtained the most recent version of iPhoto before upgrading, they were locked out of the application without warning. Since iPhoto had been removed from the Mac App Store, they had no alternative but to use Photos.[16]

## See also

[edit]

* Google Photos
* darktable
* gThumb

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The demise of Apple's Aperture and iPhoto: What does it mean for you?". The Next Web. June 27, 2014. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
2. ^ Panzarino, Matthew (June 27, 2014). "Apple To Cease Development Of Aperture And Transition Users To Photos For OS X". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on July 31, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
3. ^ a b Klosowski, Thorin (April 8, 2015). "OS X 10.10.3 Arrives with New Photos App". Lifehacker. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
4. ^ Simmons, Dan (April 8, 2015). "Apple releases Mac app to store photos in iCloud". BBC News. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
5. ^ a b c "About the OS X Yosemite v10.10.3 Update". Apple. Archived from the original on April 9, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
6. ^ Price, David (October 27, 2016). "New tvOS 10 update | tvOS 10's 8 cool new features for your Apple TV". MacWorld. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
7. ^ "visionOS 2 for Apple Vision Pro is available today". Apple Newsroom. Retrieved 2025-05-11.
8. ^ "Apple Intelligence for Photos Tested". PC Mag. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
9. ^ a b Etherington, Darrell (April 8, 2015). "Photos For OS X Review". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on April 9, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
10. ^ "iCloud Photo Library FAQ". Apple. Archived from the original on February 20, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
11. ^ Holger, Dieter (July 12, 2018). "Apple ends its photo printing service after 16 years". Macworld. Archived from the original on 2020-11-03. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
12. ^ "Everything you need to know about Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Sharing". iMore. Archived from the original on 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
13. ^ Snider, Lesa (August 20, 2015). "How to AirDrop photos and videos between Macs and iOS devices". Macworld. Archived from the original on 2018-06-18. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
14. ^ "How Photos handles content and metadata from iPhoto and Aperture". Apple. September 28, 2018. Archived from the original on March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
15. ^ Klosowski, Thorin (May 29, 2015). "Automatically Sort Pictures with Smart Albums in Apple Photos". LifeHacker. Archived from the original on August 2, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
16. ^ "Can't update iPhoto". Apple. Archived from the original on August 29, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2016.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Photos on the App Store

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Software by Apple

Operating
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