Apple Finally Fixed The Biggest Problem With The iPhone's Photo App

The Photos app on the iPhone is one of those apps that almost everyone uses. After all, it's where you go to see images and videos you've taken, along with those synced or downloaded from other sources. Over the years, Apple has added plenty of new features to make the app more user-friendly. But with the release of iOS 18 last year, Apple redesigned the Photos app in a big way.

Apple mainly introduced these changes to make it easier for users to find what they're looking for. For instance, the app now automatically sorts photos into categories like Recent Days, People, Trips, and Pets. On supported models, Apple Intelligence also includes the option to search for photos and videos using natural language. However, one of the biggest and most talked-about changes was the removal of familiar tabs — All Photos, For You, Albums, and Search — that used to appear at the bottom in older versions of the app. 

Without those tabs, a lot of users on Reddit and the Apple Community said the app became harder to use, with some even considering alternatives to the Photos app. While the search option was still there, it was noticeably smaller and easier to miss. Thankfully, with iOS 26, Apple has listened to the feedback and is bringing back the much-missed tabs. 

With iOS 26, Apple is bringing back the Library and Collections tab in the Photos app. The Library tab shows all your photos, just like it did in the previous versions. The Collection tab includes Albums, Memories, Media Types, and more — the same view you'd get by swiping down in the iOS 18 Photos app. During the WWDC25 keynote, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, even said, "Many of you missed using tabs in the Photos app," as he introduced the redesigned interface. The search option is also returning to the bottom right corner, and it's now larger and easier to tap.

While Apple isn't undoing every unpopular change it made with the iOS 18 update, it's good to see it responding to the user feedback and restoring the tabs so quickly. That's not the only change, though. iOS 26 is also bringing the Liquid Glass aesthetic to the Photos app, much like the rest of the Apple apps. Then there's the Spatial Photo Generation feature that lets you add a subtle 3D effect to images, right on your iPhone.