How to Use Photo Memories in iOS 10 on iPhone and iPad

iOS 10 comes with a neat new feature for compiling photos into short movies or slideshows called Memories. The photos included in these short movies are added based on the time and place they were taken. Users can set a mood for the accompanying music and speed up or slow down the transition of the photos. If you’re running iOS 10 (beta) visit the Photos app now and go to the newly added ‘Memories’ tab. You can see the first few movies that have automatically been created.

There will likely be one summing up the photos you took last year and perhaps two or three more created using photos that were all taken at the same location or within a certain time frame. Memories aren’t all auto-generated though. Users have the freedom to choose which photos should be used in a memory and what it should be called. Here’s your complete guide to creating, editing, viewing & sharing, and exporting Memories in iOS 10.

How to Create Memories in iOS 10 Photo App

Here’s how to create your first Memories with the Memories feature in the Photos app.

1. Launch the Photo App and then go to the Albums Tab. Tap on the plus button to create a new album and then name the album.

2. select the photos you would like to add to the memory. You can change this later.

3. now open the album you just created and then tap the date range shown for the photos. You should see a thumbnail of one of the photos with a “Play” icon on it. Tap on the “Play” icon to create a memory from all the photos in the album.

You also get the option to add or remove images from the memory and even add and change the music you use for the Memories.

Keep in mind that iOS 10 will not automatically create memories from an album unless you specifically tell it to. To do so scroll down to the very end of an album, and tap “Add to memories.”

How to Edit Memories in iOS 10 Photo App (Simple Way)

With the memory now created, You can change the length, the music, and the photos included in the album. You can access memories from inside the album they were created for, or from the dedicated ‘Memories’ tab in the Photos app. Select the memory and play it. Pause it immediately after so you can start editing.

1. Tap on the carousel at the top of the memory’s page to play it.
2. Photos will begin playing the memory, so tap anywhere on the screen to bring up editing controls and tap the pause button.
3. Choose the emotional theme to assign to your memory, like “Happy” or “Epic,” by scrolling through the topmost editing tool.
4. After deciding your theme, choose a short (~20 seconds), medium (~40 seconds), or long (~1 minute) video length. If there are too few photos in an album, you might not see the Medium and Long option. If you want to set the length of a memory down to seconds, tap the settings button at the bottom right. Tap Duration and set the length of the memory.
5. If the memory is now to your liking, you can tap the Share extension in the bottom left corner to show your memory to friends and family via email, text message, AirPlay, Facebook, and more.

How to Edit Photos & Videos in Memories

Memories allow for even more in-depth customization tools for anyone who truly wants to personalize each photo and video collection. There are a few interesting tools that let you tweak each memory, but since the potentially most common question surrounding memories will be how to add and remove photos from each collection, we’ll detail that in the steps below:

1. When looking at the basic editing screen (with the emotion and length toggles), tap the editing slider button in the bottom right corner of the screen, and then tap “Photos & Videos.“
2. To delete a piece of media, find the photo or video in question by scrolling through the selector at the bottom of the screen.
3. Simply tap the trash can icon at the bottom right of the menu to remove the image or video from this memory.
4. To add a piece of media, tap the “+” icon at the bottom left of the menu.
5. Here you’ll see every item potentially available for inclusion in this memory, as curated by Apple.
6. Tap any non-selected media to add it into the memory (you can also use this screen to remove content by deselecting its check mark).
7. Tap “Done.”

How to Edit Music in Memories

1. To add music from your music library, tap the settings button at the bottom right.
2. You will see options for accessing  your Music Library.
3. If you want to remove all music/sound from the memory, select None.
4. If you want to change the soundtrack, you can either choose Soundtracks which are ready made soundtracks by Apple or choose My Music to use your own music for memories slideshow.
5. Tap on Done at the top right corner to confirm the change.

How to Start a Slideshow in Memories in iOS 10 Photos App

1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad → Tap on Memories tab at the bottom → Tap on the memory you want to check out.
2. Tap on the play button on the large photo from the top of the screen.
3. To pause the slideshow, tap on the screen and a pause button will show up at the bottom.

Save a Memories

Step #1. Go to Memory → Play slideshow video → Tap on the share button at the lower left corner of the screen.

Step #2. Tap on save video.

Expanded Details + Related Photos in Memories

Individual photos now get a Details view that can be accessed either from a button in the top-right corner or by just swiping the photo upward to scroll down.

This view is similar to the one shown for Memories, displaying people identified in the photo, the location where the photo was taken, and Memories related to the current photo. All of these are tappable so you can go directly to a person view, find other photos taken nearby, or photos directly to a related memory.

Places where a specific Memories slideshow took place

While prior versions of the Photos app allowed you to select a map view for individual photo groupings in the main Photos view, with iOS 10 you can now view your entire photo library on a map via the Placesalbum.

1. Tap on Memories tab in Photos app.
2. Scroll down to reveal “Places” section → Tap on the map to check out where each of those photos had been taken → Tap on show nearby photos to check out other shots captured close to the ones you are viewing now.

People in your Memories slideshow

People provides a collected view of all of the faces that Photos has detected within your library. Individual faces can be added as favorites to highlight them at the top of the album, and a “Show Favorites Only” button allows you to hide other faces. Tapping on an individual face provides a view similar to the one used for Memories, with a video clip at the top, a summary of key photos below, people, places, and related memories. Options found near the bottom provide the ability to favorite or unfavorite the person, confirm additional photos for facial recognition, and create a memory out of the person’s view.

1. Tap on Memories tab in Photos app.
2. Scroll down to reveal “Groups & People” section.
3. Swipe left/right to check out who are in your slideshow.

Enjoy Memories on your phone now!

Now, use all these handy tips to use Memories perfectly. What do you think of Photos in iOS 10? Do share your thoughts with us in the comment in the comment section below.