How to customize your iPhone’s Photos app

The Photos app went through one of its biggest redesigns with iOS 18, replacing the familiar tab-based interface with a unified, scrollable layout. Apple later refined that approach based on user feedback, and the Photos app in iOS 27 continues with separate Library and Collections tabs while giving users considerably more control over how their photos are organized.

I find the customization options particularly useful because the default Collections view can put Apple’s automatically generated collections ahead of the albums and sections I actually use. In iOS 27, you can change the size and appearance of collection tiles, reorder collections, customize Pinned Collections, and control how people and pets are featured.

Here’s how to customize the Photos app on your iPhone running iOS 27.

How to customize the Photos app view on iPhone

Apple redesigned the Photos app to make navigation easier. However, the redesign focuses more on system-generated albums than what a user would want. Fortunately, Apple has prepared in advance for this situation and allows you to customize the default Photos app view to suit your fancy.

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Here’s how to customize the Collections view:

1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Collections at the bottom.
3. Tap the three-dot button at the top of the screen.
4. Choose one of the available display options:
   • Large Grid to make collection tiles larger.
   • Small Grid to make them smaller.
   • Mixed Grid to return to the default mixed layout.
   • Collapse All to hide the collection image tiles.
5. If you want to change the order of your collections, tap Reorder.
6. Touch and hold a collection and drag it to your preferred position.
7. Once you’re satisfied with the changes you’ve made, tap the Right Tick (Done) button in the top right corner.

Apple also lets you choose which library is represented in Collections if you use an iCloud Shared Photo Library. You can choose Both Libraries, Personal Library, or Shared Library.

My tip: I prefer keeping the collections I use most frequently near the top. If you mainly use Photos for albums rather than automatically generated memories, moving Albums and other frequently used collections higher up can make the app much quicker to navigate.

How to sort and filter your Photo Library

iOS 27 also gives you better control over the main photo library itself.

You can sort photos by when they were added to your library or when they were originally captured.

1. Open Photos.
2. Go to your Library.
3. Tap the Sort and Filter button at the top.
4. Choose Added or Captured.

The Added option organizes photos according to when they were added to your library, while Captured sorts them according to when they were taken.

Apply filters to your Library

You can also filter the library instead of scrolling through everything.

1. Open Photos.
2. Tap the Sort and Filter button.
3. Choose a filter such as:
   • Edited
   • Favorites
   • Shared with You
   • Captured by Me
   • Media Types

You can combine multiple filters, which is useful when you’re trying to find a specific type of photo. For example, I can use Media Types to show only videos, screenshots, or photos and combine that with another filter.

To return to the complete library, tap Remove Filters.

How to hide screenshots and shared photos from your Library

If your photo library is full of screenshots, photos synced from a Mac, or images shared with you through Messages, iOS 27 lets you hide those categories from the main library without deleting them.

Here’s how:

1. Open Photos.
2. Tap the Sort and Filter button.
3. Tap View Options.
4. Choose the type of content you want to hide:
   • Screenshots
   • From My Mac
   • Shared with You

Tap the option again if you want those items to appear in your library again.

This is one of the changes I’d recommend trying if your Library feels unnecessarily cluttered.

How to hide or reduce photos of someone in People & Pets

The People & Pets collection automatically groups photos based on the people and animals Photos recognizes in your library. You can click on any Headshot to view a collection of images featuring that individual.

However, you don’t have to let Photos repeatedly feature someone you don’t want appearing in Memories, Featured Photos, or other curated areas. The controls also let you create a group of two or more individuals, or even add new individuals to the People and Pets section.

Here’s how:

1. Open the Photos app and move to the Collections screen. 
2. Here, scroll down and tap People. 
3. Now, tap Edit in the top-right corner and select the People you want to hide.
   
4. Once done, tap the three-dot button in the bottom-right corner, then tap Hide in the pop-up menu.
5. Next, tap Hide from People Album in the confirmation prompt.
   
6. Alternatively, you can tap Create New Group so that the photos of the selected individuals will appear in a single album.
7. To add new People to the People and Pets section, tap the “+” button in the top-right corner.  
8. Next, select People from the available options, then tap the Right Tick (Done) button in the top-right corner.
   

You can further customize the People album to change someone’s key photo, merge groups of the same person, or stop featuring some people.

How to modify pinned collections in the Photos app

By default, the Pinned Collections in the Photos app comprise the albums iOS thinks are most important to you, but this may only hold true for some users. If you are not one of those users, you can modify the Pinned Collections at your convenience.

1. With the Photos app open, move to the Collections screen. 
2. Here, scroll down and tap the Edit button next to Pinned Collection. 
3. Here, tap the – button before an album and select Delete to remove it from the Pinned Collection. 
4. Alternatively, tap the + button before an album to add it to the Pinned Collection. 
5. Additionally, scroll down to the bottom and tap Add Collection or Album to add something other than the suggested collection.
6. To change the order, touch and hold a pinned collection and drag it to a new position.
7. Tap the Close button when you’re finished.
   

There’s also a quicker way to manage this. You can touch and hold a collection or album and select Pin to add it to Pinned, or select Unpin to remove it.

How to remove photos from Featured Photos

The Featured Photos section includes images from various years featuring you and different people your iPhone selected to highlight. However, not all memories are worth celebrating.

So, keeping that in mind, the Photos app allows you to remove photos from the Featured Photos album.

Here’s how:

1. Open the Photos app and tap the Collections tab at the bottom.
2. Here, scroll down and tap on Featured Photos.
3. Next, tap the Select button in the top-right corner and select the photos you want to remove from this collection.
   
4. Once done, tap the three-dot button at the top.
5. Now, tap Remove from Featured Photos in the contextual menu.
   

How to customize albums

Albums remain available under Collections, and iOS 27 gives you additional ways to organize them.

To create an album:

1. Go to Collections in the Photos app.
2. Tap Albums.
3. Tap the Add (+) button.
4. Choose New Album.
5. Enter an album name.
6. Tap Add Photos to select the photos you want to add.
7. Tap the checkmark to save it.

You can also sort albums by different options, including a custom order. With Sort by Custom Order selected, touch and hold an album, then drag it to the position you want. You can also drag an album onto another to merge them.

How to reorder Items in the Media Types and Utilities Collections

If the default view of the Media Types or Utilities collections feels off to you, you can reorder the items according to your will. However, your iPhone must be running iOS 18 or later to do so. Here’s how:

1. Move to the Collections tab in the Photos app.
2. Scroll down and tap Media Types or Utilities.
3. Here, tap the Edit button at the top right corner.
4. Now, drag and drop an item to change its position.
5. Once satisfied, tap the Right Tick (Done) button at the top right corner.
   

How to disable the recently viewed & Shared Collections under Utilities

While most of the collections under Utilities deserve their spot, the same can’t be said about the Recently Viewed and Recently Shared collections. On iOS 18.4 and later, you can disable Recently Viewed and Recently Shared in Photos settings. Here’s how:

1. Open Settings, scroll down, and tap on Apps.
2. Here, locate and tap on Photos.
3. Now, scroll down and select Albums.
4. Toggle off Show Recently Viewed & Shared.
   

From here, you can go to Featured Content to stop Memories and holiday events from automatically appearing on your device.

Signing off…

The Photos app has come a long way since the controversial redesign introduced with iOS 18. Rather than simply restoring the old interface, Apple has continued refining the Library and Collections approach while giving users more control over how the app is organized.

In iOS 27, I find the Layout and Reorder controls particularly useful because they let me decide how much space Collections occupy and which sections appear first. Pinned Collections also make it easier to keep my most-used albums and collections within quick reach.

If the default Photos layout doesn’t work for you, I wouldn’t simply put up with it. Spend a few minutes customizing Collections, Pinned items, People & Pets, and Library filters, and the Photos app can feel much more personal and considerably easier to navigate.

Read more:

• How to use Visual Look Up on your iPhone and iPad
• How to create a memory movie with Apple Intelligence on your iPhone
• How to Hide Photos and Videos
• How to Rename Photos, Videos, and Files on iPhone and iPad