How to revert the iPhone Photos app in iOS 18
iOS 18 does a lot of things right. Apple Intelligence is getting better and personalised home screens and lock screens are great. But many aren’t vibing the updated Photos app layout. Here’s how to “fix” iOS Photos in iOS 18.
Luke Hopewell is a gadget veteran of over 10 years (and has attended multiple Apple launches to boot. If it goes beep in the night, Luke has tested it. Got a question for the author? Head to the comments, or email the author at [email protected].
What happened?
Every iOS update brings with it a bit of a refresh. Not to every corner of the operating system, but a spruce up here and there makes everything feel fresh.
iOS 18 came out back in September 2024 and brought with it a refreshed iOS Photos app view.
The newly-updated app prioritised grouping your photos into different people, event, category and location stacks. It’s one of the ways that the new smarter operating system is making your mountain of data easier to access.
But folks just aren’t feeling it.
The old iOS 17 photos app was basically just a grid that prioritised your camera roll, albums you’d made and albums you’d shared.
Personally, I like the iOS 18 Photos app. It brings so many great pics I had taken and forgotten back to the surface so I can enjoy them for the first time all over again!
But if you’re like our friends above who just hate it, here’s how you can “fix” it.
How to fix your iOS Photos app view
The best thing about the iOS 18 Photos app is how customisable it is. Even if you hate it, it can be changed.
It just isn’t in the most obvious spot.
To change your iOS Photos app view back to something similar to iOS 17, follow these steps:
-
Open your iOS Photos app;
-
Scroll to the very bottom of the app;
-
Tap ‘Customise and Reorder’;
-
Check only what you actually want to see;
-
To make it look like iOS 17, check only Recent Days, Albums, Utilities and Shared Albums;
-
Tap ‘x’ at the top-right of the pop-over window.
Then you’re back to normal!
