Where did the Camera Roll go in iOS 18

I do NOT like what Apple did to the Photos in iOS 18... I can not find the Camera Roll. Closest is Recent Days, but it does not show all the pictures that were on the Camera Roll. I have to use a third party app on my PC to see the photos. I think Apple screwed up somewhere. Come on Apple, put Camera Roll back the way it used to be and the way it should be.

iPhone SE, iOS 18

Posted on Sep 17, 2024 6:41 AM

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Posted on Sep 17, 2024 11:58 AM

I found it... I re-read razmee209 first reply to me and he said Camera app.


Open the Camera app and in the bottom left corner is a small picture beside the click button, tap on that small picture, once opened, it doesn't say Camera Roll, which would be helpful if it did, and all the Camera Roll pictures are there and if you tap the All Photos at the top, your entire library would show.


It'll take time to get used to it after all the years the Camera Roll was in Photos.


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185 replies

Sep 19, 2024 12:18 PM in response to Community User

Scubachick75 wrote:

Completely agree, it’s awful. I need to be able to see my camera roll I use it for all sorts of stuff like screenshots and photos that I don’t necessarily need to keep. I sort through it monthly delete the crap then sync my photos I want to keep on my Mac to folders.

Easy. In the Photo app chose to view photos by month. All of the phones for each month will be grouped together.


Or look in the Recents album.


And NO iPhone has had a camera roll for 5 years, since iOS 13, so I don’t get why suddenly this is a problem.

Sep 24, 2024 11:14 AM in response to JohnPA2006

JohnPA2006 wrote:

Last Saturday I took about 8 pictures, only 2 showed in "Photos"

I had to search online in this support thread to see that pictures that fail to show in correct place are able to be seen once I open the camera, and then tap on the lower left corner photo thumbnail, then poof magically all the pics that should be in "Photos" are all right there, present in the Camera app, thumbnail view, and I can scroll horizontally to see them. Apple took the liberty to take away "camera roll" just rename it back to that. It benefited nobody to change the name. and if I am wrong then why are so many people looking online for help? Anyway.... Apple will eventually change this around... again. I am happy to see I am not the only one dealing with this. TLDR - Look in Camera app for any pics not showing in "Photos" Apple, admit it, you goofed on this one.

You should not have to use 2 different apps to view your most recent photos.

Sep 26, 2024 9:53 AM in response to tom_993

tom_993 wrote:

Using MS Photos appears to be the solution for me. I've always used Windows Explorer to download photos, but MS Photos seems to work better, plus it's what Apple recommends and supports.

When I open MS Photos with my phone connected, it shows what is on my camera roll. I can bulk select and download them to my PC from here. They are all in one place, which is nice, as Explorer seemed to have some strangely named folders and I had to open all of them. It also seems I can bulk select and delete from MS Photos. I was always careful not to do that with Explorer, as it can corrupt the photos database.

Give this a try if you're on a PC. It's possible that the instructions in that link for Mac's will do something similar.


Thanks, Tom. The equivalent app for Mac is Apple Image Capture.

Oct 8, 2024 1:23 PM in response to wynford

I found the elusive "Recents" or "Recently Added" folder that I used before the update. Hard to find, but it's there. I don't see "Camera Roll", but I haven't see that in a long time. In the Recently Added I find it has everything I kept in it before and any new photo (even if saved from a text) and screenshots go to the folder just like Library. Now if Apple would let me make it the default folder and hide "Library" I'd be back to where I was before. Look at my post, location highlighted.

Sep 20, 2024 9:06 PM in response to WildBillWilly82

WildBillWilly82 wrote:

Please do not post false information. I have been an iOS user since the beginning. Even at version 17 of iOS, the name “Camera Roll” has still been in use.

Please do not post false information. Apple stopped using the term "Camera Roll" with iOS 13. It has been called "Recents" since then. People may have continued to use the term but people also say "tumeric."

Sep 26, 2024 9:36 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

Using MS Photos appears to be the solution for me. I've always used Windows Explorer to download photos, but MS Photos seems to work better, plus it's what Apple recommends and supports.


When I open MS Photos with my phone connected, it shows what is on my camera roll. I can bulk select and download them to my PC from here. They are all in one place, which is nice, as Explorer seemed to have some strangely named folders and I had to open all of them. It also seems I can bulk select and delete from MS Photos. I was always careful not to do that with Explorer, as it can corrupt the photos database.


Give this a try if you're on a PC. It's possible that the instructions in that link for Mac's will do something similar.



Sep 19, 2024 12:40 PM in response to railroadme

railroadme wrote:

it’s not the same for us that move pictures off and sync them back!

It's seems fairly obvious, watching what Apple has done with many things, that they are trying very hard to push people toward using iCloud for syncing. I'm making no judgment on which way is best, nor do I especially care why anyone makes the choice they do. But, I think that it is nonetheless true.


It doesn't much matter whether or not anyone here agrees with your or even understands. You should let Apple know how you feel:


Product Feedback - Apple


Sep 26, 2024 1:41 PM in response to wynford

wynford wrote:


tom_993 wrote:

delete from MS Photos. I was always careful not to do that with Explorer, as it can corrupt the photos database.

How and why does Explorer corrupt the photos database?

You should probably study the developer documentation for iOS. Basically, iOS has moved beyond files. All native data for Apple’s apps and also 3rd party apps reside in SQLite databases, not files, the photo database included. Photo “files” are actually the leaf nodes of the photo database tree, and one image can have one or more related leaves including metadata for the image, and also editing and image optimizing data. It will also have links to all of the places the photo appears, such as albums. If you just copy the jpg or heic file you lose all that metadata, and if you delete it you break the database tree structure.

Oct 5, 2024 3:26 PM in response to wynford

The old 'recents' folder can still be found in the new Photos app. Open Photos, scroll down to 'pinned collections', then select 'recently saved'. This gives same photos / videos that used to be in the old style recents folder.


(If Pinned Collections is not showing, scroll all the way to the bottom and add it via 'Customise & Reorder')

(If 'recently saved' is not showing in the 'pinned collections', then select 'modify' and add it in)

Oct 5, 2024 5:20 PM in response to raving_dave

raving_dave wrote:

The old 'recents' folder can still be found in the new Photos app. Open Photos, scroll down to 'pinned collections', then select 'recently saved'. This gives same photos / videos that used to be in the old style recents folder.

(If Pinned Collections is not showing, scroll all the way to the bottom and add it via 'Customise & Reorder')
(If 'recently saved' is not showing in the 'pinned collections', then select 'modify' and add it in)

I took some photos yesterday and doing it your way, all do not show up, if I tap the thumbnail in the Camera app, they are all there. The Photos app is badly screwed up.

Sep 19, 2024 10:33 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

Let me correct: The photos view in the camera app is on the lower left side.

Let me clarify: The "camera roll" view I get when I look at the photos view from the Camera app displays all photos/videos stored physically on my iPhone that originally came from (1) taken by the camera, (2) saved from messages (3) saved from email attachments and finally (4) screen captures I chose to save to "Photos". It does NOT show pictures/video I synced from my Mac/PC. I do not upload my photos to Apple for any reason if I can help it. Using the Camera app to view pictures physically on my phone is a stop-gap measure. I need to see them isolated from synced Mac/PC photos in my Photos application please.

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Where did the Camera Roll go in iOS 18

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