iPhone users hate the cluttered iOS 18 Photos app - here’s how to fix the mess

One of my biggest gripes with the new iOS 18 Photos app is the overwhelming number of “albums.” I get it - Apple is trying to help organize your photos and whatever, but it feels like they’ve gone way overboard.

When you open the iOS 18 Photos app, you’re greeted with a million different album categories like Recent Days, People, Pinned Collections, Memories, Trips (which, by the way, is just sitting empty for me), Featured Photos, Shared Albums, Wallpaper Suggestions, and finally, at the BOTTOM of the app - the actual “Albums” folder.

It’s like Apple wants to remind me of every category they’ve ever come up with, instead of just letting me view my photos normally. And honestly, why is the "Albums" album (like the one I actually care about) sitting at the very bottom? Who designed this?

Cluttered iOS 18 Photos app proves Apple is running away from the simplicity iPhone users are used to

See, with iOS 17, the Photos app felt cleaner and more straightforward - you had your albums, your moments, and your memories, and that was that.

But now, every time I open the Photos app, I feel like I’m being bombarded with categories that I didn’t even ask for. And why is the Recent Days tab cutting into the view of my photos? I want to see more of them at once.

As I said, the “Trips” tab is sitting empty? Like I know I haven’t traveled much lately, but I don’t need an empty album reminding me of that every time I open the app. The “Featured Photos” album constantly shoves random images in my face, and “Pinned Collections” feels unnecessary.

Fixing the mess Apple created with the iOS 18 Photos app in just two steps - Customize and Reorder + Pinned Collections

Thankfully, right before I was about to do something crazy and switch to using Google Photos on my iPhone (which I find to be even worse in terms of layout), I scrolled all the way to the bottom of the iOS 18 Photos app to discover that it’s possible to clean up Apple’s mess.

Yes, you can customize the iOS 18 Photos app, and it’s actually not too hard. And trust me, the final outcome will be well worth it…

How to fix the cluttered iOS 18 Photos app

Step 1: Customize and Reorder the iOS 18 Photos app - get rid of the tabs/albums you don’t need

Yes, you can reorder and even hide some of the unnecessary albums iOS 18 has forced upon your Photos app.

Open the Photos app, scroll all the way to the bottom and hit the Customize and Reorder button, which Apple has made extra large - supposedly because it knew everyone will need to use it.

Then, simply drag and drop to reorder the albums so you see the ones you actually want to see first. You can even hide albums you don’t care about by toggling them off. Thank God!

Step 2: Use Pinned Collections for quick access to “Screenshots”, “Videos”, and “Favorites” albums

Luckily, the Pinned Collections tab can actually come in handy - if you take a minute to put it in order.

You need to tap the Modify button next to the Pinned Collections tab, and you can reorder the albums you see under Pinned Collections. Of course, I immediately made my Favorites, Screenshots and Videos albums visible first, and got rid of the rest.

This way, your most used albums will be (almost) the first thing you see when you open the app.

Extra tip: Utilize the Search bar in the iOS 18 Photos app

The other tip I have is to use Apple’s improved search engine to find photos.

If you ever feel lost, the search feature can be a lifesaver. You can search by date, location, or even people in your photos, which is super helpful when you don’t want to go through hundreds of photos.

Updates to Apple Intelligence should make this process even easier by making supported iPhones aware of the little details in photos/screenshots.

Is the iPhone becoming overly complicated?

To be continued...

In the end, I guess the question I have is… What’s happening to the iPhone simplicity everyone loves, Apple? I know people also want new features and a fresh new design, but surely there’s a way to make something new without breaking the old.

I also feel like Tim Cook & Co are pushing too much AI automation with the iOS 18 update. Yes, I get that AI is a big deal these days, but sometimes less is more.

But hey, if you’re feeling frustrated with the new Photos app in iOS 18, know that you’re not alone - as I said, literally everyone online seems to agree that this ain’t it.

The good news is that there are ways to make it better by customizing and simplifying the layout.