Learn how to clean up the new iOS 18 Photos app on your iPhone or iPad and make it resemble the old Photos app.
One of the biggest changes in iOS 18 has been the radically new Photos app. Unlike the app on iOS 17 and older, it no longer has tabs at the bottom, and everything is arranged in a single-screen layout. You can scroll up and down to see the different sections like Memories, Albums, and People, and you can swipe left or right under a section to see more of it.
Having so many things of different sizes on one pane can be a bit overwhelming and confusing. I have seen tons of people, including a few online celebrities, sharing their contempt for the new design on X, Reddit, and other forums. However, to make the Apple Photos app work better for your specific needs, you can hide sections that don’t matter much to you, leading to a cleaner and less confusing experience.
For instance, even though they are pretty neat, I practically never use the Recent Days, People, Shared Albums, or Wallpaper Suggestions categories, so I hide them from appearing in my Photos app to make it less cluttered. This also ensures I don’t have to swipe as much and can quickly get to sections that are more important to me, such as Utilities and Media Types.
If you’re also not a fan of the new Apple Photos app design, you can use these three tips to make it more suited to your preferences. While you can’t fully revert it to the pre-iOS 18 layout, these adjustments will still help improve your experience significantly.
Hide or show relevant sections in the Photos app
- Open Photos on your iPhone or iPad running iOS 18 or iPadOS 18.
- Scroll down to the bottom and tap Customize & Reorder.
- You will see all the sections listed here. Uncheck the ones you don’t want to see in the Photos app. Alternatively, you can check the ones you want to see.
- Now, tap the X button to save your changes and return to a personalized Photos app experience.
If you change your mind in the future or need to access a hidden section, repeat the above steps and check its box to see it again.
If you’ve made too many changes to the Photos app layout and want to start over, you can tap the Reset button, and it will check all the boxes and reorder all the sections like before. Note that this reset will not delete your actual photos and videos.
Reorder sections of the Photos app on iPhone and iPad
If there is a category you use less but don’t want to hide, you can move it to the bottom of the Photos app so it’s out of your way but still accessible with a swipe.
You can reorder the sections inside the Photos app by dragging the hamburger icon up and down on the Customize & Reorder screen.
If you’re on an iPad, you can also place the sections side by side.
Pin important things in the iOS Photos app
I take dozens of screenshots on my iPhone daily to use them in iDB tutorials.
The “Screenshot” bundle is listed under the Media Types section, but I have pinned it to the top. As a result, all my screenshots are available right on the first screen, and I can access all of them quickly.
You can pin People, Memory, Trip, Album, and options under the Media Types and Utilities sections. All you need to do is touch and hold an item and tap Pin. This will add it to the Pinned Collections section of the Photos app, from where you can access it quickly.
You can also pin and unpin sections by tapping the Modify button next to Pinned Collections.
In addition to these tips, consider removing duplicate images and deleting unnecessary media to declutter the Photos app.
Check out next: 41 tips to make the most of the Photos app on your iPhone