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Here’s how to fix controversial new design

Posted on by darion

Less than a week after Apple released iOS 18, people seem to have a strong opinion on the redesigned Photos app. At the moment, it feels like I’m part of the minority who appreciate the new take on this crucial iPhone app. I think it makes my library more dynamic, and it’s always full of memories that are ready to be relived. In addition, I love being able to hide screenshots from my gallery, making it cleaner.

Of note, it’s not the first time iPhone users have complained about a Photos app redesign. During the iOS 18 beta cycle, Apple even removed one of the app’s features, a Carousel view of your photos, as some developers found it confusing.

Several people posted on social media about their issues with this change: “iOS 18 has ruined the photos app,” said a user on Threads. Another mentioned that it feels very confusing: “The new Photos app on iOS 18 is just like my mind—total chaos and completely disorganized.”

Post by @panku_

View on Threads

https://www.threads.net/embed.js

While I feel most people will get used to it, there’s a way to almost revert the iOS 18 Photos app design to the old one.

How to the iOS 18 Photos app to the old design

How to fix iOS 18 Photos app designImage source: José Adorno for BGR

For me, what makes the new Photos app so special is the ability to customize it in any way you want, which is how you can tweak it so that it looks almost like the old design from Apple’s Photos app in iOS 17 and earlier. Just follow these steps:

  • Open the new Photos app
  • Scroll down until you find the Customize & Reorder option
  • Remove all options except for Media Types
  • Once you do that, you’ll have a new tab named “Media Types” with all your media categorized

With this change, you’ll enjoy a more familiar layout in the Photos app. In addition, you can tap the filter option when viewing all your photos, choose View Options, and remove things like Screenshots and Shared With You for a cleaner view.

Do you feel these changes improve the new Photos app? Below, you can take a look at other iOS 18 hidden features.