Bringing back the Library in the Photos app is today’s “flush headphone jack” moment.
Say what you want about Liquid Glass. Whether you hate it or love it, what is no doubt a victory for everyone (unless you’re clinically insane) is the return of the Library in the Photos app. A staple feature that was always present from the beginning of iPhone was harshly taken away from us in iOS 18, only to return to its former glory.
The Library is like the Home Button for the Photos app. Simply tap the Library to see everything in chronological order. No more frustration in sorting between your recent Collections only to be frustrated trying to find photos you took just a few days ago.
If WWDC was a true live event, you would have seen people cheer when they saw the clip showing the return of the Library, exactly like when the flush headphone jack was announced with the iPhone 3G.
The iPhone (aka iPhone 2G), debuted with huge fanfare, but it had one glaring hardware issue, which was a recessed headphone jack. That meant any headphone jack with a wider diameter plug just wouldn’t work with your iPhone, the ultimate iPod. Every iPod prior to the iPhone had a flush headphone jack and you could use any pair of headphones with it, but now all of a sudden your special headphones were not compatible. You needed a 3.5mm to 3.5mm adapter in order to use your non-Apple headphones. Back in those days, I had a Nokia N95 8GB, and I would scoff at those iPhone users with their substandard headphone jack since mine was flush, even though the headphone jack on the Nokia N95 was side mounted!
It was one year of agony for early iPhone adopters (similar to iOS 18’s removal of the Library), but one that never surfaced again.1
Here’s to many more fantastic years with the Library.
1The iPhone 7 did get rid of the headphone jack, but that was justified.
Say what you want about Liquid Glass. Whether you hate it or love it, what is no doubt a victory for everyone (unless you’re clinically insane) is the return of the Library in the Photos app. A staple feature that was always present from the beginning of iPhone was harshly taken away from us in iOS 18, only to return to its former glory.
The Library is like the Home Button for the Photos app. Simply tap the Library to see everything in chronological order. No more frustration in sorting between your recent Collections only to be frustrated trying to find photos you took just a few days ago.
If WWDC was a true live event, you would have seen people cheer when they saw the clip showing the return of the Library, exactly like when the flush headphone jack was announced with the iPhone 3G.
The iPhone (aka iPhone 2G), debuted with huge fanfare, but it had one glaring hardware issue, which was a recessed headphone jack. That meant any headphone jack with a wider diameter plug just wouldn’t work with your iPhone, the ultimate iPod. Every iPod prior to the iPhone had a flush headphone jack and you could use any pair of headphones with it, but now all of a sudden your special headphones were not compatible. You needed a 3.5mm to 3.5mm adapter in order to use your non-Apple headphones. Back in those days, I had a Nokia N95 8GB, and I would scoff at those iPhone users with their substandard headphone jack since mine was flush, even though the headphone jack on the Nokia N95 was side mounted!
It was one year of agony for early iPhone adopters (similar to iOS 18’s removal of the Library), but one that never surfaced again.*
Here’s to many more fantastic years with the Library.
*The iPhone 7 did get rid of the headphone jack, but that was justified.
This editing feature in Photos will save you tons of storage.
If you crop a video and select “Save Video,” the storage size of your video won’t decrease. You have to select, “Save Video as New Clip” to get a reduction in file size, and then delete the original video.
The “Save Video” option crops your video, but still retains the whole video in case you change your mind. When you go back to editing the video under the “crop” option, you will see the entire video with your cropped selection. I had a 10GB slow-mo video that was 42 minutes long, but I only needed 1 minute from it. After cropping my video and selecting “Save Video,” the file size was still 10GB. I was sure I didn’t need all that extra footage, so I selected, “Save Video as New Clip,” and then deleted the original 10GB video.
My new file size? 342MB.
If you crop a video and select “Save Video,” the storage size of your video won’t decrease. You have to select, “Save Video as New Clip” to get a reduction in file size, and then delete the original video.
The “Save Video” option crops your video, but still retains the whole video in case you change your mind. When you go back to editing the video under the “crop” option, you will see the entire video with your cropped selection. I had a 10GB slow-mo video that was 42 minutes long, but I only needed 1 minute from it. After cropping my video and selecting “Save Video,” the file size was still 10GB. I was sure I didn’t need all that extra footage, so I selected, “Save Video as New Clip,” and then deleted the original 10GB video.
My new file size? 342MB.
Background Sounds in iOS are great for White Noise
I play YouTube videos as my background noise when going to sleep, but I found a way to prevent any hiccups in case the YouTube app crashes for whatever reason (which it does).
Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing Background Sounds.
This isn’t a new feature by any means, but it provides redundancy to my background noise should my main source of background noise (YouTube) stop working. Every once in a while, the app crashes, and there’s nothing worse than waking up earlier than expected.
With Background Sounds ON, I can still have white noise playing, keeping me sound asleep. The great thing is you have 8 different sounds to choose from, and you can control the volume of Apple’s background noises separately from your main source of volume.
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Background Sounds. From here, you can adjust the volume along with whether or not you want to stop Background Sounds when the iPhone is locked.
You can do this easily by adding a Control Center widget as well.
I play YouTube videos as my background noise when going to sleep, but I found a way to prevent any hiccups in case the YouTube app crashes for whatever reason (which it does).
Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing Background Sounds.
This isn’t a new feature by any means, but it provides redundancy to my background noise should my main source of background noise (YouTube) stop working. Every once in a while, the app crashes, and there’s nothing worse than waking up earlier than expected.
With Background Sounds ON, I can still have white noise playing, keeping me sound asleep. The great thing is you have 8 different sounds to choose from, and you can control the volume of Apple’s background noises separately from your main source of volume.
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Background Sounds. From here, you can adjust the volume along with whether or not you want to stop Background Sounds when the iPhone is locked.
You can do this easily by adding a Control Center widget as well.
Be careful with Apple’s Drug Interaction Checker
“I had the exact same list of drugs on both phones, but I had more drug interactions on my 15 Pro. The 16 Pro was only showing 8 Serious and 4 Moderate interactions, while the 15 Pro was showing 2 Critical, 9 Serious, and 5 Moderate interactions.” 📓
I set up my 15 Pro Max as a fresh new testing device, and I added the same drugs that I had on my 16 Pro Max. This list on my 16 Pro Max was ported over from my health data when I set it up initially.
Here’s the list of drugs that I setup as a dummy patient profile:
Crestor (generic name is rosuvastatin) - cholesterol medicine.
Lisinopril - blood pressure medication.
Zocor (generic name is simvastatin) - this is the same drug category as Crestor, used for cholesterol medicine.
Chantix - for smoking cessation.
Simvastatin - literally the same drug as Zocor.
Rifampin - used for treating tuberculosis.
Gemfibrozil - cholesterol medicine.
Promethazine VC with Codeine - used to treat cold, stuffiness, and allergy symptoms.
Accutane - for severe acne.
I had the exact same list of drugs on both phones, but I had more drug interactions on my 15 Pro. The 16 Pro was only showing 8 Serious and 4 Moderate interactions, while the 15 Pro was showing 2 Critical, 9 Serious, and 5 Moderate interactions.
I tried to see what was the reason behind this, and I could not see anything different. Sure, I skipped putting an image background and pill color for my 15 Pro drugs, but that shouldn’t matter.
The main drug causing more interactions was Gemfibrozil, so I archived it and then unarchived it to see if it would “fix” the amount of drug interactions I had. That did fix the problem.
In fairness to Apple, these type of glitches happen in all software based systems, including Pharmacies.
Considering there were 2 Critical and 1 Serious interactions that would not be seen, it’s always a good idea to consult with your care team whenever new medications are added or doses are changed. Even when taking over-the-counter medications, you should add it to your drug list to see if it can have harmful effects.
It also can’t hurt to archive and then unarchive your medications every so often.
After I archived Gemfibrozil and then unarchived it…
I got the proper amount of Drug Interactions to display.
iOS 18 does not give you the freedom to move widgets wherever you want.
18 years.
We have been waiting 18 years to move our apps wherever we want to in iOS, and now we have complete app freedom.
After all, it took a new generation of engineers to make this happen.
Developers had to be born first, in order to handle the complexities of moving the icons from the top, to the bottom, per Craig Federighi himself.
Truly a remarkable feat.
Unfortunately, we may need to wait for another batch of engineers to be born to fix the widget situation…📓
18 years.
We have been waiting 18 years to move our apps wherever we want to in iOS, and now we have complete app freedom.
After all, it took a new generation of engineers to make this happen.
Developers had to be born first, in order to handle the complexities of moving the icons from the top, to the bottom, per Craig Federighi himself.
Truly a remarkable feat.
Unfortunately, we may need to wait for another batch of engineers to be born to fix the widget situation.
All jokes aside, Apple states we can place widgets where we want them, but that is not the case.
Apple’s claim:
Place your apps and widgets right where you want them. Arrange them along the bottom for quicker reach, or off to the side to frame a favorite wallpaper. Or give each page of your Home Screen a unique layout that's most helpful for you.
When it comes to apps, we do have complete freedom. With widgets, we cannot place them where we want them.
If you use the large widget, you have 2 spots to place them, but you cannot center the widget:
If you are using a medium-sized widget, you have 3 spots to place them, but you cannot place them in rows 2-3 and 4-5:
The smallest widget size, perhaps the most used by people to customize their home screens, has even more limitations. There are 6 layouts that you can use, but there are 9 layouts that you cannot use.
Apple’s walled garden gives you these six choices…
but not these nine choices.
This is the definition of freedom, within Apple’s walled garden.
The situation is more optimistic on iPadOS 18. You still have similar restrictions with the large and medium sized widgets, but for small widgets, you can place them anywhere. The extra space between icons allows for that luxury. It’s actually quite satisfying turning your apps into small widgets, and nothing moves.
I turned whatever apps I could into small widgets, and nothing shifted position.
Also works in portrait mode.
In order to fix this issue, we need the birth of a new generation to rise.
A new generation, with the skill and capabilities to fix what was thought to be unfixable.
A new generation, filled with hope and ambition.
A new generation, to give us the freedom we deserve.
Springboard, here we come!
How to sync your Photos App in iOS 18
In certain situations, your photos on your iOS devices don’t sync automatically, such as when being on a cellular connection or being on Low Power Mode.
In iOS 17, it was really easy to resume sync by simply tapping Sync Now at the end of your Camera Roll.
In iOS 18, there is no Sync Now button at the end of your Camera Roll…📓
In certain situations, your photos on your iOS devices don’t sync automatically, such as when being on a cellular connection or being on Low Power Mode.
In iOS 17, it was really easy to resume sync by simply tapping Sync Now at the end of your Camera Roll.
In iOS 18, there is no Sync Now button at the end of your Camera Roll. You have to click on your iCloud account in the top right corner, and then hit the Sync Now button there.
Took me forever to find this setting.