Photos app under iOS 16: innovations summarized for you

You can use the pre-installed Photos app to view, sort, edit and share photos and images on the Apple iPhone. This gets under iOS 16 on compatible iPhones new features and settings. In this guide I have summarized them for you and listed the respective benefits individually. So you know in advance which new photo opportunities will arise for you from September 2022. It should be noted, however, that the following information is based on current Beta versions are from iOS 16. So there may still be a few adjustments before the final release.

Hidden and Recently Deleted folders backed up with Touch ID and Face ID, respectively

If you delete photos from the overview or from folders, they do not disappear from the iPhone immediately, but are first moved to the "Recently Deleted" folder. From there they are completely removed from the memory after a certain period of time (or after another manual deletion). If you want to remove photos from the overall overview but keep them, you can also hide them. I have explained how this works here: Hide photos and hide "Hidden" folder. 

However, both the Photos recycle bin (Recently Deleted) and the hideable folder (Hidden) are relatively easy to access, at least up to iOS 15. These folders become more secure with the upgrade to iOS 16 in autumn 2022. Because then they will be secured with a request for biometric data or the iPhone unlock code. Touch ID is used on iPhones with a home button, and Face ID on the other models. For example, photos or scans of important documents and other private images can be protected from unauthorized access to the device.

Detect duplicates, merge and free up memory

Duplicate photos and images can result from synchronization with cloud storage, from exchanging photos with other users and from other actions; also by simply copying photos to the end device. Of course, duplicate photos also require additional storage space. So that you can clear this up a bit, there are photos in the photo App on iOS 16 the duplicates folder. There you can not only delete duplicate images, but also merge them, for example if one has a higher resolution, but the other contains more meta data. In this way, a single file can be created that has both a large resolution and all the information.

Copy edits and apply to other photos

The Photos app on iPhone will introduce a copy-and-paste feature for editing steps starting with iOS 16. I personally think this is great because I like to edit iPhone photos directly on the device in the Photos app. With the new function, adjustments to brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, dynamics, sharpness, etc. can be easily copied from one photo and transferred to another photo. The whole thing then works simply via Copy Edits / copy editing and Paste Edits / paste editing. 

Undo and redo for individual editing steps

Up to iOS 15, the options for editing photos in the proprietary Apple app on the iPhone were constantly being expanded, but users still missed some options. These include the option of gradually removing editing steps from photos that have been saved as edited. So far, you can only remove all editing steps (aligning, cropping, adjusting the color tone, etc.) as a whole. From iOS 16, the individual editing points can be undone and repeated step by step. The forward and back arrows appear in the top left of the app.

Organize photos of people by name

Under "People & Places" in the Photos app you will find different people folders depending on the settings and how your iPhone photos are sorted. It organizes photos of people or contacts. So if you're looking for photos of specific friends or family members, you'll find them there. From iOS 16 you can use a new sorting function to quickly find the right person and their photos. In the People folder, just tap on the two up and down arrows in the top right corner and you can sort (alphabetically) by name. A small but effective customization of the Photos app on the iPhone.

Photos and folders shared via iCloud for more people

Sharing photo folders with other users via iCloud is nothing new. With iOS 16, however, there should be the possibility of sharing a shared photo library with up to five people. For example, holiday photos can be shared with several people without family release or similar settings.

Delete photo backgrounds and keep main content

People, animals, objects and more are often the main content of photos. The photos app recognizes this better and better from iOS 16 using machine learning. As with iPadOS 16 and macOS is coming the important photo motifs can be quickly and easily cut out for further use - without Photoshop or other third-party software. 

All you have to do is hold your finger on the photo content. According to current video presentations, the cut content can be reused after just one second by moving it, for example as a sticker in iMessage / messages, as a graphic in notes or in a Pages– or Word document. This can save a lot of time. I'm excited to see how well this feature will work.

Turn off For You and other suggested photos

In some areas of the iOS system on the Apple iPhone you will be shown selected photos from your memory. "For you" would be an example of this, but also other widgets and the search function. If you want to switch off the display of these selected images, there is an option to do so from iOS 16. To do this there will be an option below Settings -> Photos give. 

Sources: 1, 2

Johannes Domke

After graduating from high school, Johannes completed an apprenticeship as a business assistant specializing in foreign languages. But then he decided to research and write, which resulted in his independence. For several years he has been working for Sir Apfelot, among others. His articles include product introductions, news, manuals, video games, consoles, and more. He follows Apple keynotes live via stream.