Users unhappy with new iPhone Photos app, some want old one back

Users want Apple to stop fixing what isn’t broken, starting with the Photos app.

Several features were released together with the iOS18 update, one of which was an upgraded version of the Photos app. However, after the renewed app appeared on users' smartphones, the changes have left them unimpressed.

The newly customized Photos app not only displays an array of photos taken but also shows a folder with “Recent Days” pictures, following categories of People, Pinned Collections, Memories, Trips, Featured Photos, and more, which should make it easier for users to find relevant shots.

However, people found a few things that they found annoying or hard to get used to.

“I hate the fact that as soon as you open the app all your photos are all exposed in the front page,” shared one of Reddit users.

A number of Redditors also noted how watching the content has changed, stating that “video controls are madness.”

“I hate the auto-zoom in and zoom-out, it's annoying af,” agreed another netizen.

“This is the thing that makes me the most mad about the redesign. Video preview scrolling gone. I have to tap to make the video bigger since every photo and video is never full screen. The App Store reviews for the default app are very telling. You type on twitter ‘iOS 18 photos app” is nothing but negative comments about the new app,’” concluded the other.

Users online were quite annoyed about the company’s approach of having to change things just for the sake of it.

“That’s the problem with them making themselves hold these annual events and show off all these “changes” every year – they end up changing things that were 100% fine and we were all used to it,” stated another Reddit user.

Nevertheless, not all iPhone users online were against the upgraded app.

“[...] you could give it more than a day to get used to. I’ve been using both for a few months and wouldn’t want to go back. We all think the old photos app was fine, but how many of us just have tens of thousands of old great photos we never really see? This new app does a great job allowing you to access your recent photos just as quickly as before, while surfacing photos in useful ways. I spent 5 minutes setting up the new control center in a way that works well for me and I’d never want to go back to the old rigid one,” wrote one of the users online, reminding others that they can “Customise & Reorder” their Photos app.

This feature allows users to personalize the way they see their photos and collections. To do so, users have to scroll down the app and find the “Customize & Reorder” button.