In this guide, we go over all the notable new features added to the Apple Photos app on iPhone and iPad in iOS 27. Most of these upgrades are also available on Mac running macOS 27 Golden Gate.
In case you haven’t already updated to iOS 27, iPadOS 27, or macOS 27, go to Settings/System Settings > General > Software Update to download and install it.
See all photos you actually took in one spot
You can see all the photos you took using the Camera app on your current and past iPhones in one dedicated section called Captured By Me. You’ll find it under the Utilities section of the Collections tab.
Tip: Edit the Utilities tab and move Captured By Me to the top to access it with minimal scrolling.
See all your ID card photos in one place
The iOS 27 Photos app collects and shows all the pictures of your ID cards, driver’s license, passports, and other such documents in one spot in a new section called Identity Documents.
Save video frame as image
Instead of taking a screenshot of a video, just tap the three dots icon and tap Save Video Frame as Photo.
Sync photos immediately to iCloud
Tap your profile icon in the Photos app, then tap Sync Immediately, and select For Today to force-upload all new items to iCloud for the day, without adding them to the queue to upload later (which is less taxing on the battery).
Give a rating to your photos
The iOS 27 Photos app now lets you assign 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 stars to each picture and video, but you’ll have to enable this hidden feature first. You can then sort photos by the assigned rating levels to see just those.
Add keywords to your photos
Simply swipe up on a photo or video to add one or more keywords. You can use these keywords as little notes for this photo for future reference or even search using them to find the right image quickly.
React to images in shared albums with any emoji
You can now share how you feel about a shared photo or video in the iCloud shared album with any emoji of choice. Before this update, you only had one thumbs-up emoji to react with. The commenting option is still there as before.
Create temporary shared albums that auto-delete
iOS 27 adds a new temporary album feature that lets you share photos and videos with others for just 30 days. After that period is over, the shared album auto-deletes itself.
Add full-quality photos and videos to shared albums
Permanent shared albums no longer upload pictures in high resolution but rather full resolution. This is great if you don’t want to compromise on photo quality when sharing media.
Your shared albums now count towards your iCloud space
Full-quality uploads come with a big trade-off! Earlier, high-quality photos and videos stored in shared albums didn’t count towards your allotted iCloud storage space. But after upgrading to iOS 27, all permanent shared albums count towards it. Temporary albums still don’t eat up your cloud storage.
Allow Android and PC users into your shared album
Earlier, you could only add other Apple users as participants to your shared iCloud album. Now even Android and Windows PC users can add to your iCloud shared album. Just remember that whatever they add will count towards your iCloud space.
See recent activity log for shared albums
Tap the comments icon on the shared album screen to see a log of all recent activities related to it, like new additions, comments, etc.
Filter photos in a shared iCloud album by members
When you’re in a shared album, simply tap the three lines icon and select Shared By to filter the album by one or more participants. This way you can see only the photos and videos those selected people added.
Erase unwanted things better from your photos
The Photos app Clean Up feature has improved and can now erase larger, more complex unwanted objects from your images. This is possible because Apple now uses a different AI model, possibly built on Google Gemini’s foundation, that works better.
Reframe the photo
The new Reframe feature lets you change the camera angle of existing photos using AI. We have explained everything in our full tutorial: How to change the camera angle of existing photos in iOS 27
Extend the photo
You can now use AI to generate edges of a photo to add parts that were never there in the first place.
Ask Siri AI about a photo
Simply open a photo or pause a video frame and ask Siri to tell you more about it.
Tip: You can now also use Siri AI in the iOS 27 Camera app to know more about a food item, plant, flower, object, and more.
See all selected photos in one window
Earlier, when you selected several images, it would just say ‘N images selected’ at the bottom of the Photos app. iOS 27 turns that into a button, and you can tap it to view all your selected photos and videos on one convenient screen. This is super helpful for previewing all selections before you take action.
Exchange photos faster via AirDrop
iOS 27 makes AirDrop up to 80% faster, so you can send or receive photos and videos faster than ever! Of course, this also improves other file transfers.
Other enhancements
Aside from the above notable changes, iOS 27 also includes other small yet significant updates like:
- Faster rendering of the Collections tab
- New camera captures loading quickly in the Photos app
- Sending photos faster on slow connections from iPhone (this is a new Messages app feature, but related)
- Tall photos zooming in a bit to fill the entire iPhone screen
- Search Top Results showing more pleasing photos of people and pets
- The process to save media from shared albums is even easier, and more…
What is your favorite feature of the lot?
Also, check out: Top new features added to iPhone Messages app in iOS 27