Apple made some major improvements to the Photos app in iOS 15, adding some long-awaited and requested features along with unique capabilities that enable you to do more with your images than ever.
There's a new Memories feature that lets you relive your favorite moments, metadata info can be viewed and edited, Visual Lookup lets you identify plants, landmarks, and more, and with Live Text, you can copy and paste the text from any image on your iPhone. This guide highlights all of the new features that are available in the Photos app.
Memories
The Memories section of the Photos app has been overhauled in iOS 15, making it easier than ever to resurface your favorite memories.
The Memories feature has a new look that includes animated cards with adaptive titles, new animation and transition styles, and multiple image collages for a more cinematic feel. There are new memory looks that are added to Memories based on each photo and video, with Apple using machine learning to apply the right contrast and color adjustment for a consistent look. Apple says that this feature is designed to mimic what colorists at film studios do.
When playing a Memory, there's an interactive interface that lets you tap to pause, replay the last photo, skip to the next photo, or jump ahead, with the music designed to keep playing. Changing a song, removing or adding photos, or adjusting a Memory look is done in realtime with no need to recompile. To make it easier to make adjustments to Memories, there's a new Browse view so you can see all of the photos and videos in a bird's eye view.
Apple Music Integration
When creating and viewing Memories, the Photos app has always supported integrated music, but now Apple Music subscribers can choose to add any Apple Music song to a Memory.
The Memories feature makes personalized Apple Music song suggestions based on your music tastes and the content of your photos and videos. Song suggestions can include songs that were popular at the time and location of the memory, songs that you listened to while you were traveling, or a song from an artist if the memory includes a concert.
You can customize a Memory by swiping through various Memory mixes, which lets you experiment with different songs, pacing, and Memory looks.
New Memory Types
There are new kinds of Memories that are built from your Photos library, with Apple adding new international holidays, child-focused memories, and trends over time. Pet Memories have been improved and iOS devices can recognize individual dogs and cats.
Watch Next
After you've finished a Memory, Memories will suggest related content so that you can keep going through your photo content.
Suggest Less Often
If there's someone popping up in your Memories or in Featured Photos, you can use a new quick access "Feature Less" button to see less of that specific person.
Live Text
Any text that's in a photograph or an image on your iPhone is now recognized by the iPhone through the new Live Text feature.
Text that is in a photo is selectable, can be copied and pasted, can be used with the Lookup feature, and can even be translated. You can take a photo of an item that has text in a foreign language and have it translated right from the photo.
