Apple’s new Photos app focuses on the cloud to keep you in picture

APPLE’S new Photos app totally changes how images are handled. That’s the most profound effect of swapping from ­iPhoto.

Apple Photos app

APPLE’S new Photos app totally changes how images are handled. That’s the most profound effect of swapping from ­iPhoto to the new Photos for OSX on a Mac. The new app also supersedes Aperture.

I have been trying Photos for several weeks. You start by uploading pics from iDevices or regular cameras. Apple also brings across your existing iPhoto collection. It classifies photos into ­moments, collections and years (as it does in iOS) and also organises them into smart albums, such as panoramas and slomo bursts. You can create and share albums, as with iPhoto.

My biggest concern always is having a backup of originals in their unadulterated form. Apple’s new policy is to store originals in iCloud.

So how is a big photo collection replicated back to your Mac or iDevices? Obviously you can’t fit thousands of originals on a small MacBook Air, and if you could, you wouldn’t want to use so much space anyway. Apple’s answer is to, where necessary, store downsized versions on your devices, which it can do automatically.

You can still download originals if needed. And edits made on one device replicate on all. As with iPhoto, edits are non-destructive — the original photo stays intact.

Two other aspects stand out: One is the attractive photo interface, its functionality and the use of gestures. Even in year mode where thumbnails are tiny, you can scrub along a row to track down individual pics. The other is built-in editing tools. You can ­rotate, crop, apply filters, make colour and light adjustments and remove spots on the fly. They aren’t as sophisticated as, say, Photoshop, and I couldn’t find a built-in geotagging tool, but they’ll be adequate for many.

You’ll inevitably have to buy more iCloud storage to house your whole collections. For 200GB that will mean $60 a year.

Rating: 8/10