iOS 27 Adds Full Slideshow Tools and Shared Album Upgrades to Apple Photos

The slideshow tools expand a feature that had been limited. 9to5Mac reported that Photos has long supported a rudimentary slideshow mode, but it was geared more toward reliving personal memories. Users who wanted to create a slideshow for an event or another public viewing had to look elsewhere. In iOS 27, Photos adds a robust set of slideshow creation tools. Users can play any set of photos or videos as a slideshow, customizing transition style, duration and music. They can auto-loop the slideshow and save it as a video file for easy re-viewing. The report described the addition as long overdue.

iOS 27 also upgrades iCloud Shared Albums, which 9to5Mac described as the Photos app's own social-network-style feature. Shared Albums let users maintain an album shared with friends or family. An activity feed shows new photos and videos that are added, and participants can like or comment on anything shared. The report compared the feature to old-school Instagram, but noted that it is private and limited to people chosen to share with.

The Shared Album update adds several capabilities. Users can now share full-resolution photos and videos, whereas shared media had been lower quality before. They can react with any emoji, set new participant permissions, and allow Android and Windows users to add photos. 9to5Mac said the Shared Albums improvements are arriving just in time for Apple's new HomePad device, and that the upgrades made its reviewer more excited for that product.

The report framed both changes as answers to longstanding user requests. It said robust slideshows had been missing from Photos, while Shared Albums had awaited new sharing and reaction options. According to 9to5Mac, the iOS 27 update gives Photos two features that many users had waited a long time for.