Apple’s latest iPhone update, iOS 26, comes with some changes to the Camera and Photos apps. Some are little improvements that you’ll love, and some… well, I’m crossing my fingers they fix in the future. Here are the iOS26 Photos changes.
iOS26 Camera Changes
A fresh design.
The camera looks very different now: simpler, less cluttered. You’ll still see the usual Photo and Video buttons, but if you want something like Portrait mode, you’ll swipe to get to it.
I’ll be honest… it’s taking me some time to get used to. I found it helpful to enable ‘camera mode’ in iPhone Settings/Camera/Preserve Settings since I like to use Portrait mode the most and with that setting enabled, my camera automatically opens to Portrait.
A lens-cleaning reminder.
Have you ever snapped a great photo only to realize it’s fuzzy because of fingerprints on the lens? For years I’ve reminded people that the best way to improve your photos is the make sure the lens is clean… and now, I’m passing the torch because the phone will make those reminders automatically. Now your iPhone will remind you to wipe the lens if it notices things are looking smudgy.
AirPods as a shutter button.
Got AirPods? You can now squeeze the stem to snap a photo… super handy if you’re trying to get a family picture with you in it. This functionality has existed on the Apple Watch for years but it’s nice to have another option.
iOS26 Photos App Changes
The Photos App went through a complete redesign last year with iOS18 (and people had big feelings about it!) so iOS26 Photos changes this year are minimal.
Two Tab Layout.
The main change is that it’s broken into two tabs now, rather than one long stream.
The Library tab has all your photos, sorted in order of date taken or you can switch it to recently modified if you prefer.
The Collections tab has all the rest… Albums, Trips, People, Pinned Collections (my fave!), Utilities, Media Types, etc. I love that this makes the app feel less like one giant scroll-fest.
BUT… I’m sad to report that one of my favorite features is missing. Remember the ‘customize and reorder’ button that they added in IOS18 that allowed you to hide collections you didn’t want to see? That’s gone (at least for now). You can still reorder things, but you can’t remove the clutter. I really, really hope Apple brings that back.
New “Not in an Album” filter.
This one has people really excited, but it’s not something I find particularly useful. You can now filter your photos in Library to see only the ones that aren’t in an album.
I personally don’t advocate for organizing every single photo (I think it’s a waste of your time). Instead, I use albums for my best shots or the ones I need quick access to. But if you’re someone who prefers to have 100% of your photos in albums, this new filter makes that easy.
No more CarPlay screenshots!
If you have CarPlay, I’m sure you’ve noticed that your phone would randomly save screenshots of your car’s screen. Gone! If you want to bring them back (why????), you can enable this now in iPhone Settings/General/Screen Capture.
Overall, I think iOS26 is ok. I like the look of the new liquid glass style overall. The lens-cleaning reminder and the CarPlay fix are worth updating for all on their own.
My only real gripe? Losing the option to hide collections in Photos. That feature helped keep Photos neat and clean, and I really miss it. Fingers crossed Apple brings it back soon! 🤞🏼
You can read more about the iOS26 update at the Apple Help website.
