There is a photo in your camera roll right now where someone is standing slightly off-center, a trash can ruins an otherwise perfect shot, or the angle just feels wrong.
The newly announced iOS 27 can fix all three of those problems after the fact, directly in your Photos app.
That capability alone changes how useful your iPhone camera actually is, and it is only one of several upgrades that make the updated Photos app feel meaningfully different to use every day.
You Can Now Change the Camera Angle After You Already Took the Shot
A new tool called Reframe lets you adjust the perspective of a photo after it has been taken. It lets you tilt a subject or slightly shift the angle. You can even fix a photo where someone was leaning awkwardly, or the horizon looks crooked.
This works because your iPhone already captures spatial data when it takes a photo. Reframe uses that data, along with AI, to simulate what the camera would have seen from a slightly different position.
You drag to adjust the angle, use two fingers to pan or zoom, and the app fills in any pixels that would have been outside the original frame. It requires an iPhone 15 Pro or later, since it depends on Apple Intelligence.
For anyone who shoots a lot of photos of people, this is the kind of thing that saves a picture you would have otherwise deleted.
The Background Eraser Finally Works on Complicated Scenes
Clean Up, the tool that removes unwanted objects from photos, has been in the Photos app for a while.
The original version worked reasonably well on simple backgrounds, but struggled when the surrounding area had texture or detail. iOS 27 fixes that.
There are now three removal modes:
- Fast for quick, simple edits.
- High Quality for scenes with more going on.
- Auto, which lets the app decide.
The new AI model powering the cleanup tool makes a massive difference, especially with tricky backgrounds.
It handles things that used to completely ruin an edit, like erasing a street sign against a brick wall, a random tourist on a busy beach, or a messy cable on a desk.
Previously, trying to remove stuff like that just left behind a blurry, smudged mess, but now the reconstructions look incredibly clean.
Also: iOS 27 may help millions of AirPods owners discover features they never knew they already had
Zoom Out on a Photo You Already Took
A new Extend tool lets you expand the borders of a photo, essentially zooming out after the fact.
If a photo is cropped too tightly, or someone’s arm is getting cut off at the edge, you can drag the border outward, and AI generates what would have been there. You can also use it to change an image’s aspect ratio without cropping anything.
Apple also uses this same Extend feature automatically when a Lock Screen wallpaper doesn’t quite fit your display size.
Pull a Still Photo Out of Any Video
This one is simple and overdue. You can now save any individual frame from a video as a standalone photo.
If you caught a great expression or a perfect moment in a clip, you no longer have to take a screenshot and crop out the interface. Just save the frame directly.
Also: iOS 27 finally lets you get rid of that stubborn lock screen widget — here’s how it works
Your Photos Can Now Have Star Ratings
iOS 27 adds keyword tags and one- to five-star ratings to photos and videos. Rate your favorites, then filter your library by rating to find them instantly.
For anyone who shoots frequently and struggles to find specific images later, this is a real organizational upgrade. Photographers who have used dedicated software for years will recognize this immediately.
Also: The Apple Watch feature people use when they’re panicking just got a major upgrade in watchOS 27
Shared Albums Got a Lot Less Awkward
Sharing photos with a group has always involved a bit of friction. iOS 27 removes several of those annoyances at once.
Android and Windows users can now contribute to iCloud Shared Albums, removing the barrier of requiring an Apple device.
You can set an album to expire after 30 days, so a vacation photo share doesn’t live forever. There is a recent activity log so you can see what’s been added.
People can now react to photos with any emoji. And you can generate a link that lets others upload directly to an album without being individually invited.
Also: Apple just ended the Apple Watch requirement that kept most gym-goers locked out for 9 years
Make a Slideshow From Any Album, Then Save It as a Video
Previously, slideshows in Photos were mostly automatic things generated from the Memories section. Now you can start a slideshow from any album or any group of photos you select.
Choose transition styles, set how long each slide stays on screen, add background music, and then save the whole thing as a video file you can share or keep.
For family events, trips, or anything you’d want to show someone on TV, this fills a gap that’s existed in the app for years.
Your Passports and ID Photos Now Have Their Own Folder
iOS 27 adds two new automatic folders under Utilities. One called Captured by Me collects every photo you personally took with your iPhone, separating your shots from screenshots and saved images.
The other, Identity Documents, automatically pulls together photos of passports, licenses, and similar documents.
You no longer have to hunt through thousands of photos trying to find where you saved your insurance card.
Also: The fun AI feature Apple barely mentioned at WWDC just got a huge upgrade in iOS 27
Force Your Photos to Back Up Right Now
A new Sync Immediately option in Settings lets you tell iCloud Photos to upload everything right away instead of waiting. Normally the app holds uploads to save battery.
With this toggle on for the day, new photos sync the moment they land in your library. Useful before you hand off a phone, travel somewhere with no signal, or just want to make sure a specific set of photos is safe immediately.
