What’s new in the Photos app iOS 27

The Photos app is one of the few apps that Apple has paid special attention to in iOS 27. It features multiple performance improvements and several quality of life upgrades. There are also new AI photo editing tools that use Apple Intelligence.

There is a set of AI photo editing tools in the ‌Photos‌ app, accessible by tapping the icon with three sliders and then selecting the ‌Apple Intelligence‌ icon labeled “Tools”.

To clean

Clean Up uses new AI models and removes objects better. The original version of Clean Up was ideal for small objects with little complexity in the surrounding area, but it is now capable of doing more work of reconstructing backgrounds with generative AI.

There are now three options for deleting objects. Fast works faster and can still be used for simple edits, while High Quality works better for more detailed scenes. Auto lets the ‌Photos‌ app decide which option is best.

Extend

Expand lets you change the crop of an image, widening the borders around the content to zoom out or change the composition of the photo. It uses generative AI to fill in missing areas and you can adjust borders with pinch gestures.

Apple also uses the Extend feature to extend iPhone lock screen wallpapers that don’t quite fit the screen.

Crop

Cropping can change the perspective of the photo, adjusting the angle of a person or object. It draws on spatial information collected by the iPhone when a photo is taken and combines it with AI to change the camera angle in post-processing. Spatial data is used to adjust the subject of the image, then the AI ​​fills in the missing pixels.

Reframe uses tap and drag gestures to adjust perspective, as well as two fingers to pan, zoom, or rotate an image to get the right angle.

Picture Playground

Although not part of the ‌Photos‌ app, the Image Playground app can be used to make photorealistic edits to your image. If you have a photo of a friend and want to add a hat or accessory that looks real, you can do so with ‌Image Playground‌. You can select specific areas of an image to edit and make AI edits using natural language, and there is also an option to combine images.

‌Image Playground‌ is free to use, but there will be daily limits, with additional usage available through iCloud+ plans.

Videos in photos

You can now save a frame from a video as an individual photo.

Apple now lets you add tags and stars to photos and videos in the ‌Photos‌ app. You can rate images with one to five stars, then filter images by rating.

Album changes

Apple improved album organization in ‌iOS 27‌ and added new features for shared albums, including an option for Android and Windows users to contribute to ‌iCloud‌ albums.

• Shared albums can be filtered by photos or videos.
• It’s easier to save images from shared albums.
• You can set shared albums to expire after 30 days, which is useful for sharing photos without having a permanent album.
• It’s easier to invite people to join shared albums with a dedicated “Create Shared Album” option in any album menu.
• You can create a link allowing people to upload images to a shared album, and there are new permissions allowing you to require explicit access to be granted.
• Shared albums have a recent activity log.
• You can react to images in shared albums with any emoji.

Slideshows

You can create a slideshow from any album or collection of images in the ‌Photos‌ app instead of limiting yourself to content in the Memories section. Simply tap an album, tap the icon at the top right of the screen and choose “Start Slideshow.” You can also select multiple photos and then follow the same steps from the main library interface.

Slideshows can be customized with transition styles, slide duration, and background music. The resulting file can be shared on social networks and saved as a video.

Utilities

There are two new Utilities folders in the ‌Photos‌ app. Captured by Me includes any images you’ve taken from the Camera app on your current or old iPhone, while ID Documents includes photos of passports, licenses, and similar documents.

iCloud

In the ‌Photos‌ section of the Settings app, there is a “Sync Immediately” option that lets you prioritize immediate ‌iCloud‌ downloads for the day.

With the setting enabled, iCloud Photos will sync as soon as new images enter the ‌Photos‌ library instead of pausing downloads to save battery.

Full-resolution photos and videos can be added to ‌iCloud‌ shared albums, with support for all common photo and video formats.

Other changes

• You can select a specific pet to use with Photo Shuffle wallpaper.
• The search returns nicer photos of people and pets in the top results.
• The Collections tab is quicker to display.
• New captures from the Camera app load faster in ‌Photos‌.
• You can include images of yourself in Photo Shuffle.
• A “Show Featured” option in the Library shows you all the photos you’ve checked out so you can edit the metadata.

Compatibility

AI photo editing tools are available on devices that support ‌Apple Intelligence‌, which includes iPhone 15 Pro and later. Performance and organization tools are available on devices running ‌iOS 27‌, which includes iPhone 11 and later.