Reminisce more efficiently with ‘Show Photos from this Day’ in iOS

The holidays are a natural time to sit down with friends or loved ones and flip through all of your photos ad nauseam. iDB features help and guides aplenty for confident navigation of the Camera and Photos app, however one little trick has managed to fly under the radar for many, albeit its capability to save you valuable time when browsing your compendium of years and years of photos.

The tutorial below will teach you how to ask your iPhone or iPad to show you all remaining photos captured on the same day the footage you were initially looking at has been taken. In simpler words, say you are laughing at a vacation video taken at the pool and want to reminisce what else went on that day – here is what you should do instead of going back to your collection and painstakingly scanning your catalogue for that day.

First things first, the execution of this little knack varies relative to the device on which you are revisiting your photos. At the end of the day it comes down to whether or not your device supports 3D Touch capabilities, but without overcomplicating matters if you are unsure about your iPhone’s prowess or – easier – own an iPad, simply refer to the back end of the article for the 3D Touch-free Method #2.

What makes the shortcut presented below all the more valuable is that it will work for any of your device’s Albums (including Videos, Panoramas, Favorites, Bursts). I for one like to share my Favorites Album with the family on Christmas and this handy gesture has made it so much more easy to show off more great photos from the same day in no time.

Method #1: for 3D Touch devices

1) I’m in Photos, presenting my Panoramas of 2016 to an awed crowd (that is how I like to read the situation at least). Someone likes the elevated view on one of the beaches and would like to see more of it.

iphone tutorial 2 show all photos from this day screenshot

2) Now, I know that I took more than a couple panoramic shots of the beach that day, but dread to go back through my entire collection of photos just to find the handful of other photos originating that day. I therefore simply 3D Touch the picture in question and keep pressing down my finger until I see this pop up:

iphone tutorial show all photos from this day

3) I release the pressure (to avoid activating peek-and-pop) from the glass panel but make sure to not lift my finger from the screen altogether. As the nondescript arrow above the image hints, I perform a swipe up gesture on the screen.

4) A submenu becomes visible, unveiling the coveted Show Photos from this Day feature. I now let go of the screen briefly (the gesture is complete) and select the second last text field.

iphone tute show all pics from this day screenshot

5) And the trick has come off. My iPhone has tracked down date and location of the original Panorama quicker than anyone could have manually and presents me with the aggregated material in Moments. I get to see all other regular beach shots and other glorious memories from said day.

iphone moments screenshot ios10

Method #2: for non-3D Touch devices

Let’s switch it up and go with the iPad to demonstrate the alternative way. To be clear: this method is also available for owners of 3D Touch-capable devices, however the reverse is not the case.

1) To start, I again open any of my Albums in Photos. I have a penchant for Panoramas and like to exhibit them to the family. Early in the showing, someone from the table interjects ‘do you have more photos from Brooklyn Bridge?’.

ipad pano tutorials show all photos

2) My cue to show other photos taken that day. In order to quickly summon them, I tap the photo once to single it out first. Once it has opened full screen, I swipe up as pictured below:

ipad show all photos from this day tute

3) Next I scroll to the very bottom of the page to find the Show Photos from this Day feature pop up. I’m one click away from my iPad doing the administration work for me.
I hit the text and am taken to all memories created that day.

ipad screenshot show all photos

4) And that’s it. My iPad has done all the heavy lifting for me and identified both date and location of the panoramic shot, now listing the remainder of photos taken that day (the fact that the photos of my new Apple Watch greatly outnumber the Brooklyn Bridge ones really did not take anyone in the family by surprise).

ipad tutorial all photos from this day

There you go, we’re all done! If you did not know before, you just acquired a new way to save time when flicking through your photos as the year draws to a close. For its simplicity, I find it to be extremely useful when I watch old videos and would like a little more context around it. ‘Show Photos from this Day’ is a cool trick to relive memories in greater detail, or simply a practical shortcut to finding related footage a whole lot faster.