What’s new in iOS 17 for camera and photos?

Apple’s iOS 17 is here, and while there are no drastic changes to Apple Photos, there are a few new cool features. Make sure you read all the way through, my favorite one is at the end!

The Level

I am notorious for taking crooked photos. I am worse with my big kid dslr camera, but I also often take crooked iPhone photos. Luckily for me, Apple has added a level to the camera app. Just open camera, turn your iPhone sideways to take a landscape photo, and a level will appear in the center of the screen. White lines = crooked, a yellow solid line = level. This is a useful and easy to use tool for those of us who are level-challenged.

Faster Cropping

Apple has made cropping a bit faster. Now when you pinch and zoom in on a photo, the crop button appears on the upper right. When the photo is as you want it, just tap Crop and you are done. Or you can press and hold the Crop button for additional options. This also allows you to quickly change a landscape photo to a portrait photo to use as a wallpaper. The feature is not new, it’s just easier to get to now.

Adding text to boxes on a photo

Here’s another fun one - sometimes I like to add text to photos with a color background - usually I do this to also hide something else in the photo, but other times it’s just fun to add text to a colored shape. Here’s how you do it:

👉 open the photo you want to edit

👉 tap edit

👉 tap the pencil upper right, then the plus sign lower right

👉 tap add shape, choose your shape, move it where you want it, change the size

👉 double tap inside the shape and type away

You can also use this method to add your signature, a sticker, regular text, and descriptions that can be read aloud by Image Explorer,

Better visual lookup

iOS 17 allows you to more easily look up information about what is in your photos. Ever wonder what all those symbols mean on your clothing tags? Now you can take a picture, tap the “i” on the lower part of your screen, and use visual lookup to get the answers. Very handy for laundry-challenged college students! It also works for recipes and nutrition information. Take a photo of your dinner plate, tap the “i” and see what it gives you.

It also works when looking up birds!!! A program after my own heart. I have not fully tested its accuracy, but it worked on this photo.

Pets!

And finally, my favorite new feature, Apple has finally added pet facial recognition! They should have had this years ago - after all Google announced it in 2017. Do better Apple! But I am so glad it’s here. You’ve probably already guessed that I am somewhat obsessed by my dog. Well now he has his own automatic album, as does his best buddy who is a frequent guest at our house. I was so excited I created my Loki album right away, so I have to demonstrate in the video below with one of his best buds. Open your photos app, and go to Albums. Tap People, Pets & Places. If you don’t see Pets, it may be because Apple has not yet indexed your photos after you updated to iOS 17. Give it a bit of time and Pets will appear. Tap People & Pets and scroll until you see your pet. Tap the pet, give it a name, and Apple will do the rest. To the iPhone pet lovers out there, you're welcome.

Those are my favorite new iOS photo and camera features, what are yours? Tell me in the comments below!