Welcome to the audio version of our latest blog post!

In this episode, we’re diving into one of the most controversial redesigns of 2024: Apple Photos in iOS 18 and iOS26. What happens when you take a beloved, functional app that millions rely on as their personal memory archive—and reinvent it?

Apple Photos on iOS 17 wasn’t flashy, but it worked. It was a time machine, not a social network. A place where we go to remember, not scroll. Then iOS 18 changed everything.

What you’ll hear:

* Why the Photos app became the modern family photo album

* How iOS 17 created predictable, emotional user experiences

* What went wrong when Apple decided to “fix” what wasn’t broken

* The deeper lessons about respecting user habits and emotional design

As Don Draper said in Mad Men’s “The Carousel” episode: “Nostalgia... it’s a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone.” Apple understood this in iOS 17. But did they forget it in iOS 18?

This is Part 1 of our exploration into interface design, user trust, and what happens when innovation prioritizes novelty over necessity.

Prefer to read? Check out the original blog post here.

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Have thoughts on the iOS 18 Photos redesign? We’d love to hear them in the comments below.

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