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How Upgrading to iOS 18 Transformed My iPhone 14 Into a Superior Content-Creating Device: Insights

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Apples may be in season in the agricultural world, but it’s also a ripe time for Apple, the tech giant. As fall rolls around, so do the latest creations out of Cupertino.

Also: The best iOS 18 features that will make updating your iPhone worthwhile

With the introduction of iOS 18, the iPhone operating system underwent a few major upgrades. Some of these changes include a satellite messaging option for emergencies , a new way to customize your apps and display , and a newly interchangeable control center .

The real money piece, especially for content creators, is the new and improved layout of the Photos app. The app now allows for more seamless ways to browse media, organize it, and keep your camera roll decluttered.

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I use an iPhone 14 to create most of my content for TikTok, Lemon 8, Instagram, and more. For such a tiny device, I have been able to make substantial creations like interviews or unboxing videos to post on platforms.

As someone who is not nearly an influencer but loves to use their imagination, I believe these features will greatly help speed up the lengthy creative process.

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1. Video scroll bar and playback options

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Recently, I was lucky enough to cover Jack Harlow’s Gazebo Fest in Louisville, Ky. When I began editing content during the festival, I ran into many issues trying to filter through content to find a usable take. At one point, I had five versions of virtually the same video of Jack Harlow.

Many will agree that one of the most annoying processes when editing a video is having to hunt through different takes individually to find the best one. To add more burden, the scroll bar at the bottom was laggy and unreliable, and I could not get accurate enough in-and-out points.

Also: My top 2 productivity hacks for video editing that save me time - and wrist pain

Thankfully, the new Photos app on iOS 18 features a more accurate scroll bar to fast-forward through takes. If I had this feature at the time, I would have been able to select content much more easily.

When you do find the perfect take, the editing menu now allows an option to slow down high frame rate videos to get on-the-dot cutting.

When viewing videos, the scroll bar automatically pops up. To access the playback options, select edit and then the clock icon at the top right corner.

2. Customizable layout with ‘Recent Days’

Allison Jewell/ZDNET

Before this update, the Photos app was full of tabs. As someone who needs everything in one place, I found it messy and unorganized. Finding specific albums or putting things in easily findable places was hard.

While many would argue that the new Photos app is even more convoluted, I’d say it helps that it’s also extremely customizable. All the content rests on one screen; one scroll motion down accesses your entire camera roll, while one scroll motion up houses all of your albums, collections, people, and more. You can change this in app, by scrolling to the bottom and selecting, “Customize and Reorder.”

Also: How to use the Photos app on your iPhone with iOS 18

“Recent days” is a new addition that will help me keep track of daily content. It rests near your albums and keeps all of the photos you took during the day, minus the screenshots (which we all have a plethora of).

For example, during the Apple launch, my phone was essentially exploding with content, screenshots and all. With this new feature, I can click on that date and weed through all of the hands-on content I received without the interruption of screenshots.

With customization, you can keep this collection at the top of your feed, or any other categories that would help you stay the most organized. Now I can pull content from a certain day without having to scroll all the way back, and hopefully it does the same for you.

3. Filter button

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My camera roll has a whopping 22,100 items, so it is the biggest pain to scroll through and find specific videos, especially if they are buried in the depths of my camera roll.

Thanks to iOS 18, this problem is avoided. The bottom left corner now has a filter button, where you can filter through recently added and date captured. And even better, you can filter with aspect ratio grids, filter out screenshots, shared with you, eliminating the annoying things.

Also: iOS 18 is officially available for iPhone. Here’s how to download it (and which models support it)

To narrow content more, you can also filter to favorites, previously edited content, photos, and videos. Thanks to this update, I’ll be able to find what I’m looking for way faster.

And just with one slide up, it resets the filters. If you add the ability to organize your photos app to your liking, your photos app becomes so much more efficient.

Honorable mentions

A ‘utilities’ option categorizes documents, receipts, QR codes, and more in one place to maximize your workflow.
People and pets can now be recognized into frequent groups and organized in a collection.
Trips can now organize content from locations and put them into one collection.
A ‘recovered’ album in Utilities recovers corrupted images that were previously not visible.