iOS 18 has made some big swings in terms of app redesigns, nowhere more so than the Photos app. Its controversial new layout has prompted complaints from many beta testers ahead of iOS 18’s public launch next month, and it looks as though Apple has taken note.
Most notably, this latest beta update has ditched the controversial carousel that took up the entire top half of the app and was a nuisance to navigate. It would auto-scroll through various categories, hiding access to the camera roll unless you scrolled back to the first section of the carousel and then swiped up.
Now, the top half remains a preview of your camera roll, but it won’t scroll out of view when you’re not looking. Users can still access their entire library by swiping up.
Apple has also given more prominence to the All Photos view, condensed some similar categories into one, and made it easier to find custom albums. Altogether, it feels far less cluttered and confusing to find what you’re after, and shows the importance of beta testing and being open to user feedback.
As before, you can still customize the Photos app, changing arrangement of various layout elements to surface the categories you use most to the top of the hierarchy.
iOS 18 will be available to the public shortly after the iPhone 16 event in September, but Apple’s public beta program is currently live for anyone daring enough to test these new features out before everyone else. Otherwise, rest assured that by the time you get your hands on this update it should be far more usable than Apple’s first attempt.