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In this guide, we walk you through features that make it easier to quickly find the right photo or video on your iPhone or iPad. Most of these also work on Mac.

Note that the first few tips below are only available on iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate.

Enable star rating

Just as you can rate movies and Uber rides with 1 to 5 stars, the updated Photos app on iOS 27 and macOS 27 lets you rate your pictures and videos with stars.

Once you have done that to a few photos, you can use this rating system as a filter to see just those images that are marked 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 stars. You can also select multiple star ratings (like all media with 5 and 4 stars) to filter your library and quickly find what you’re looking for.

I mark some of my best photos as 5 stars so I can find them quickly. Similarly, I mark screenshots I only need to reference for a short while (like payment screenshots) with 1 star, then periodically delete them all.

You can decide what works best for you and use this star rating feature accordingly.

Use photo keywords

Another lesser-known new feature in iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 Photos app is the ‘Add Keyword’ option, which you can access by swiping up on a picture or video.

Add the desired keywords to a photo and then you can find it quickly by entering the keyword in the Photos app search bar. You can add multiple keywords to a single photo. You can even mark some keywords as favorites and then filter your entire photo library based on your selected favorite keyword(s).

Add title or captions

Similar to keywords, you can swipe up on a photo or video and add a title or caption. When you need to find this photo, simply type the caption in the search bar to see it instantly in the results.

Use the filter option

This is powerful, but not many people use it.

In the Library tab of your Photos app, tap the three-line icon at the top to find a bunch of useful options. Start with the Filter section that lets you see:

• Only your favorites
• Edited photos
• Pictures people have shared with you in Messages, and you saved them to your device (Tap View Options and select it if you don’t see it under ‘Filter:’)
• Pictures and videos you have recorded on this or previous iPhones
• Stuff that is not part of an album
• Media you have marked with 1 to 5 star ratings
• Only Photos, Videos, Screenshots
• Only pictures marked with favorite keywords

Once you have worked through your narrowed-down media, tap the same three-line icon and select Remove Filter or All Items to return to full library view.

Use Collections tab

The Collections tab in the iOS Photos app has several pre-made sections and categories that organize your images and videos. For instance, the new Identity Documents Utilities section in iOS 27 brings together all photos you took of your ID cards, passports, and such.

Similarly, if you take spatial photos, RAW photos, or Panoramas, you can see them all in one place under their respective sections in the Media Types category.

Other tips

Use Search properly: The Photos app search is powerful. Describe what you are looking for in plain English (like family pictures from beach day), and it will surface relevant photos, provided you have them in your library.

Add to albums and album folders: Adding photos and videos to albums is a great organization tip that lets you find those items quickly when you need them. You can go further by arranging several albums into album folders.

So, you can have an album for your child’s 1st birthday to see all those pictures. Next year, you can create another album for their 2nd birthday and put both albums in an album folder named ‘Joe’s Birthday.’ Add all future birthday albums to this folder; you get the idea…

Use favorites: Marking some of your best photos and videos as favorites (heart) lets you see them all in one place.

Use Hidden: This is yet another place where you can keep some sensitive items that you don’t want others to peek into. The Hidden folder is secured by your device’s Face ID, Touch ID, and passcode.

What do you do to better organize your photo library on iPhone or iPad?

Also, check out:

• New features added to iPhone Photos app in iOS 27
• 11 features I wish iCloud Photos had

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2026/10/13/photo-find-and-filter-tips-ios/

Apple has launched a new device called the “HomeView,” which is a smart home device with a 7-inch square touchscreen display, FaceTime camera, speakers, and microphones.

It’s a fusion of a HomePod (on the speaker side) and an iPad (on the display side), meant to sit on a table or desk, or be mounted to the wall.

You can use it to ask Siri all sorts of questions, control your Home, view CCTV camera feeds, make FaceTime calls, listen to music, see recipes on the screen, access your messages or have it read to you, reply to messages using voice or on-screen keyboard, use it as an Intercom machine to broadcast to other devices in your house, and more.

Just as HomePod can recognize up to 6 different family members by voice, the new HomeView can recognize users by face. Based on this recognition, it can show personalized responses for that person in Siri, Messages, Calendar, Reminders, FaceTime, and Find My.

Here’s a quick summary of what you need to know about it.

Types

HomeView comes in two flavors:

• One has a speaker base that’s meant to sit on your desk or tabletop.
• The other is wall-mounted, which you can DIY-install or have a professional install it on your wall.

Fine print on Apple’s website says this about the wall-mounted version:

“HomeView (Wall Mounted) will be available with a choice of three purpose-built mounts from Schneider Home. Power Mount USB‑C Wall Connector, available starting at $59.95 (U.S.), and Power Mount AC Wired, available starting at $79.95 (U.S.), can be ordered starting today from apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app. Power Mount PoE Wired will be available starting in early 2027 for $129.95 (U.S.).”

I’m sure that within a few weeks of launch, you’ll be able to find third-party mounts on Amazon for far less.

Colors

Apple HomeView comes in 4 colors: silver, starlight, rose pink, and space gray.

The wall-mounted version comes in just 2 colors: space gray and silver.

Price

Both the normal and wall-mounted versions cost $299 in the United States, $429 in Canada, A$449 in Australia, £299 in the United Kingdom, and ₹39900 in India.

The wall mount will cost more overall because you’ll need to buy the mounts, cable, and adapter separately (more in the next section).

What you get in the HomeView box

Apple’s pre-order page says the tabletop version comes with a color-matched USB-C cable and a 30-watt adapter.

However, the wall-mounted version doesn’t include any of these, even though it costs the same. You’ll have to buy mounts separately.

Construction

HomeView is made of aluminum, and the display connects to the domed speaker base with a stainless steel hinge. The hinge allows smooth tilting, so you can view it comfortably whether sitting or standing.

Weight

The desk version weighs 2.1 pounds (952 grams). The wall-mounted version weighs just 0.63 pounds (286 grams) because it lacks the large bottom speaker setup.

Dimensions

See the image above for its size.

• Left to right: 5.73 inches (14.55 cm)
• Top to bottom: 5.38–6.82 inches (13.67–17.32 cm)

Display

Apple HomeView has a 7-inch diagonal Liquid Retina multi-touch display with IPS technology coming in at 1088-by-1088-pixel resolution at 220 ppi. The display supports True Tone, has a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating, and reaches up to 500 nits of maximum brightness (the same as a MacBook Air display) and 0.3 nits of minimum brightness so that it can work as a desk clock in your bedroom at night.

Smart software

Apple says that:

“The HomeView interface intelligently adjusts based on the user’s distance, showing simpler information that’s viewable from across the room and richer detail as they step closer.”

Faces

Like Apple Watch and iPad widgets, you can customize the HomeView screen with faces that show the time, calendar, photos, weather, and more.

Camera

This smart home hub device has a 12MP Center Stage camera on the top front chin for FaceTime calls. The camera has an ƒ/2.4 aperture.

Speakers

The desk version of HomeView has:

• Two custom full-range drivers
• Custom down-firing woofer
• Dual force-canceling passive radiators

The wall-mounted version has only two custom full-range drivers, with no woofers or passive radiators. But Apple has tuned it specifically for on-wall placement, so it sounds decent even with less hardware.

Microphone

Apple HomeView has four microphones for far-field Siri, so it can hear you better when you ask Siri a question or are on a FaceTime call. Here are their placements:

• Front microphone (near the camera)
• Rear microphone (on the backside at the top)
• Left and Right microphones (on the sides)

These microphones also support the Sound Recognition feature, so the device can listen for smoke and carbon monoxide alarm sounds and alert you.

Sensors

HomeView has an ambient light sensor (the same one found on phones, tablets, and laptops) so it can adjust screen brightness based on the surrounding light.

It also has a temperature and humidity sensor, so you can get data for the room your HomeView is in.

Finally, it has an accelerometer, maybe for some neat features not yet publicly known.

Chip

HomeView is powered by an Apple A18 chip, which is the same chip found in iPhone 16, 16 Plus, and 16e.

Wireless tech

Apple says the HomeView hub supports Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) with MIMO9, simultaneous dual-band, peer-to-peer discovery for easy guest access, Thread networking technology, and Bluetooth 6.0.

Handoff

Like HomePod, you can bring your iPhone near your HomeView, and it will hand off music or podcasts from your mobile to this home hub.

Apple says:

“With Handoff, users can continue listening to a song they were playing in the car or on a walk by placing their iPhone in front of the HomeView display.”

Multi-setup

Apple further says that:

“By setting up multiple HomeView, HomePod, HomePod mini, and AirPlay-compatible speakers around the house, users can enjoy music throughout the entire home with multiroom audio.”

Power Requirements

While the tabletop version of HomeView comes with an Apple 30-watt adapter, the wall-mounted version requires you to buy a minimum 20-watt power adapter separately.

What you need to set up HomeView

You must have an iPhone or iPad running the latest version of iOS 27 or iPadOS 27 to set up your new HomeView.

Apps

Out of the box, Apple says that the HomeView comes with the following built-in apps:

• Alarms
• Timers
• World Clock
• Calendar
• FaceTime
• Find My
• Home
• Intercom
• Messages
• Apple Music
• Apple Podcasts
• Reminders
• Safari
• Settings
• Weather

Additionally, Apple mentions that Audiobooks, Apple Music Classical, News, and Apple TV apps will be available from users’ iPhones.

On top of that, the new HomeView will also support third-party audio and video apps. Spotify, YouTube, Netflix, etc., may support it soon. But don’t take my word for it; Spotify and Netflix still don’t have apps for Vision Pro, and YouTube was reluctant to support visionOS at first.

Siri languages

Siri AI on HomeView is available in English only in the U.S., the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and India.

Pre-order and availability

• You can pre-order it today (October 13) if you’re in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, the UK, and the U.S.
• Singapore: October 15, at 9 a.m. SGT
• South Africa: Pre-orders can be placed through Apple Authorized Resellers.

HomeView will be available to customers in all the above countries beginning November 13 (Friday).

What about the EU?

At its core, HomeView is a Siri AI-powered device. Because Siri AI is not available in the European Union, this new smart hub device will also not be available for sale there. Apple says it is “working constructively with the EU in an attempt to find a path forward.”

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2026/10/13/apple-homeview/