Get to Know Photos in iOS 8

Once you’ve taken a photo or video with the Camera app, or saved an image from within another app, the Photos app is where you find it. Photos is also where you see images from shared albums and iCloud Photo Library ①.

① Photos has three main views, accessed through buttons at the bottom of the screen. In Photos and Shared, images are categorized for you. In Albums, you get default albums and you can create your own.

Note: iCloud Photo Library stores your photos and videos online, making them available anywhere with Internet access, and potentially saving space on your device. I explain how to turn on iCloud Photo Library in Photos, earlier.

Viewing Your Photos

The Photos view has three levels. The broadest level, Years, groups photos by, well, years. Tap any year, and you see Collections, which includes photos from smaller date ranges. Tap any Collection, and you see Moments, which are photos grouped by small units of time and location.

At any level, tap a photo to drill down; in Moments, tapping a photo opens it full screen.

To move back up a level, tap the button at the upper left.

New! Searching for Photos

You can now search for photos in the Photos app. Tap the magnifying glass at the top of the screen to see the search box. iOS suggests some searches, like Nearby, Home, and July 2014. Tap a suggestion or type a search term, such as a location or date. For example, I can search for San Francisco to see all the photos I took while I was there.

Note: By default, Photos shows only a subset of thumbnails; to make it show all of them, disable Summarize Photos in Settings > Photos & Camera.

Any time you see a location with an arrow next to it, you can tap that arrow to see that grouping of photos on a map. For instance, in Years, to the right of the year, you see a list of locations where the photos from that year were taken. Tap the location to see all the year’s photos on a world map. Tap a group of photos on the map to see all photos taken in that location.

Organizing with Albums

Tap Albums at the bottom of the Photos screen to see the default albums plus any you’ve created on the device or synced through iTunes. Default albums that you may see include Camera Roll, Favorites, Videos, Slo-mo, Time-lapse, Recently Deleted, My Photo Stream, and Your iCloud Drive.

Tip: To add an image to the Favorites album, view it and tap the heart icon ②.

② To add this item to the new default Favorites album, I tapped the heart icon beneath it.

Creating an Album

In the Albums view, tap the plus + button in the upper left.
Enter a name and tap Save ③.

③ Enter an album name, and tap Save.

Add items to your album. You can choose from moments, collections, and years, as well as other albums.
Tap photos and videos to select them (selected items display a checkmark).
When you’ve selected the photos you want to include, tap Done.

Adding Photos to an Album

In the Albums view, tap an album that you’ve created, not a default album.
Tap Select and then tap Add.
Select the photos you wish to add.
When you’ve selected the photos you want to include, tap Done.

New! Hiding Photos

Do you have embarrassing photos or videos you don’t want friends and family to see while you show off pictures of your baby?

Touch and hold a picture or video and tap Hide, then tap Hide Photo or Hide Video. The item will no longer appear in Moments and Collections, but will still be viewable in Albums, including in a new Hidden album.

Deleting Photos and Videos

Delete one photo or video: Select a photo or video, tap the Trash icon, and then tap Delete Photo.
Delete several photos or videos: While viewing an album or other photo list, tap Select in the upper right, select the items you wish to delete (selected items gain a blue checkmark), tap the Trash icon, and then tap the delete button ④.

④ You can delete multiple selected items at once. In this case, I’d tap Delete 8 Photos to delete all eight selected images.

Note: Deleting a photo from an album doesn’t delete the photo, it just removes it from the album.

New! Recently Deleted Album

The new Recently Deleted album holds a deleted item for 30 days before trashing it forever. A label on the item notes the time remaining. You can recover or permanently delete items in this album:

Recover one item: Tap a deleted item, then tap Recover.
Recover multiple items: Tap Select, select the items you wish to recover, tap Recover, and tap Recover # Items.
Recover all items: Tap Select, tap Recover All, and tap Recover # Items.
Delete all items: To permanently delete all items, tap Select, tap Delete All, and tap Delete # Items.

Sharing Photos and Videos

Share one photo or a video: Tap a photo or video, tap the Share icon to open a Share sheet, and then tap the extension you wish to share through, such as Messages or Twitter—or iCloud Photo Sharing (see later in this list).

Note: For more about the Share sheet, read Sharing from the Photos App.

Share multiple photos or videos: Tap select in the upper right, select the items you wish to share, then tap the Share icon in the lower left.
iCloud Photo Sharing: You can share photos and videos through Apple’s iCloud Photo Sharing service. To see what you are sharing or to see albums others have shared with you, tap Shared at the bottom of the Photos screen. Here, you can create shared albums, “like” photos and videos, add comments, and more.

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