The Photos app got its “biggest ever redesign” in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, but not everyone is a fan. Apple aimed for convenience, but most users find it the opposite. The biggest gripe? The app now sorts by date captured instead of date added, meaning photos shared by your friends from earlier weeks can end up buried. If you’re struggling with this change, here’s a way to make your life easier.
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Slightly swipe down on the photo grid to reveal the bidirectional arrow at the bottom left corner. This is the sorting option in the Photos app, which automatically appears/disappears based on where you are in the app.
- Tap the bidirectional arrow. By default, the “Sort by Date Captured” option is selected.
- Choose “Sort by Recently Added.“
- This will instantly sort your photos and videos so that anything you recently captured, AirDropped, or added now appears at the bottom of the camera roll.
Honestly, I hate the Photos app redesign in iOS 18. In my opinion, it killed the simplicity and made the Photos app unnecessarily complicated and overwhelming. I’ve been a big user of the Recents album that existed with iOS 17. Thankfully, I can at least get the same feel back by changing the sort order of the photos.
If you ever wish to go back to the default settings, tap the bidirectional arrow and choose “Sort by Date Captured.”
If you’re looking for ways to level up your editing game, here are six hacks to edit your photos like a Pro in iOS 18.