Small photo thumbnails in iPad after update

Well, it is weird. I get 3 across to work, but not 5. So weird. This is on a brand new iPad-- the last one's screen had many cracks, mostly invisible but sharp to the fingers. I have no idea if it's the iPad that changed or the software. Not so smug, now.

I'm leaving a suggestion for Apple:

Feedback - Photos - Apple

Yes, I see how to change the size of the thumbnails via 'options'. But I can't see how to make my choice permanent. The default on the iPad makes the thumbnails far too small, and it reverts to this every time Photos is closed, which is infuriating. It's fine on the iPhone - the default grid is 3 thumbnails across, which is a sensible size. Any ideas?

I too am having this problem. No matter what I do Photos reverts to 9 across view on my iPad.

APPLE, please take note of this and fix it so we can select 3 or 5 across as the default view.

One change that seems confusing is that, when you open the main Photos window, you see "Photos" at the top with the most recent pictures, and then there's Collections and Albums and stuff at the bottom. So, if you want to see all your pictures, instead of hitting the "Library" button like you used to, now you scroll up, and it says "Library" in the top. NOW, in the Library view, you can change the size of the thumbnails! You can make it 13, or 7 or 5 or 3 or 1 across, just like you could before.

Instead of Recents, you can now change the Library to show pictures in order of Date Captured, as before, or sort by Date Added just like Recents did.

Instead of having two separate views, we have one that can go either way! It's just simpler.

The other great thing about the new system is that there are lots of ways to make it your own. You can eliminate

sections you don't use, and put the ones you want to see at the top. And in some sections, like Pinned, you can choose only the views you like, and rearrange the order to suit you.

I'm still exploring how I can make this all work for me, and it's taking some time. But that's because it has become way more versatile. I'd say, fool with it, and give it a chance…

shelagh259 wrote: … But I can't see how to make my choice permanent. The default on the iPad makes the thumbnails far too small, and it reverts to this every time Photos is closed, which is infuriating. It's fine on the iPhone - the default grid is 3 thumbnails across, which is a sensible size. Any ideas?

Actually, I just tried this: In Library, I reverse pinched

to make the display 3 across, and then I went down to the Photos screen, and it was also 3 across. Then I exited, closed Photos with the "throwaway" gesture (I don't know what that's really called, if anything,) and re-opened Photos-- the 3 across view was still there!

I did this with the sidebar on and off, and it was the same: my thumbnail zoom stayed 3 across. I did it again with 9 across (which is 13 across without sidebar,) and it remained the new size in the Photos and Library views. I even did a forced power off, and the thumbnail size remained the same.

Is this different for you?

Wow--you're right! I don't exit apps like you do. I grab the bar at the bottom and swipe up.

The first time I followed your method, X, then full-hand pinch, it went back to 9 across (or whatever-- I didn't count.) But now I can't reproduce that. Every way I close Photos (either way,) it reopens with 3 across.

Hold it-- I think I just saw something: when I did the full-hand pinch, it made the thumbnails smaller, like a two-finger pinch, and then closed! I think that's it! I think that if I full-hand pinch quickly, it just closes (usually,) but when I do it more slowly, it shrinks as it closes.

Well, maybe-- using the "bottom-up" gesture to close, and see what you get-- and let me know!

It's been confusing me that my iPad works, but others' don't. But I may have it--

I bought a new iPad yesterday to replace the one with the shattered screen. I set it up to suck my data from iCloud, and I left it at home alone while I went away. When I came back, and after a bit of tinkering, it had all my 16000 pictures that I sync with iCloud. It had 9 thumbnails across, so I reverse pinched, got 5 across, and exited. When I re-opened Photos it was 9 across again! Drat! And this persists, though it still works normally on my old iPad.

Eventually, I looked at my settings, and I saw this:

Even though all my pictures were there, it was still downloading! This is because it loads the thumbnails first, so I can sift through the pictures, and it doesn't load larger versions until later, or when I try to edit one. When I tried Preview mode, I saw that the images were blurry, because the full images hadn't been loaded yet. Zooming in or going to edit forced it to load each picture I played with, which became crystal clear (the new iPad is wonderful!) but the rest stayed blurry. I've got 14000 to go!

So, I think that, maybe, it keeps popping back to 9 across, because it just doesn't have larger images, yet, to do 3 across without the blur.

Do you guys have "Optimize Storage" turned on for Photos?

I don't. I have "Download Originals" checked, so my old iPad always had the full sized images to make the larger thumbnails. My new iPad hasn't gotten the full sized versions, yet, so it prefers to show me smaller thumbnails. I think.

I'm not sure, yet, but this may be the reason some folks can't get the 5 across thing to stick. I won't know for sure until my iPad finally gets all the pictures downloaded-- maybe tomorrow-- then I can check to see what happens when I pinch.

shelagh259 wrote: … I don't have "optimise storage" turned on

Of course, I didn't know that, so it was important to find out. Maybe the issues aren't connected, but the thing is, I couldn't reproduce the thumbnail-resize-not-sticking problem with my original iPad, but with the new iPad it started happening, just like you described. Since yesterday, my iPad has imported all but about 1000 of my pictures, and the not-sticking problem happens, but way less.

Photos stores thumbnails and preview sized copies in addition to the originals. The thumbnails look fine at 7 across, but they're not detailed enough to look good at 3 across. I'm mostly guessing, but I'm thinking that when Photos opens, it tries to do 3 across, discovers that the Preview size is not available, and chooses 9 across to keep the images from looking trashy.

I can force the generation of Preview sized images by choosing Edit and zooming in and out. Below, the left was when I first looked at the Robin on the new iPad, and the right is after I chose Edit and zoomed in and out:

The difference is clear, but as thumbnails (I just made them smaller, here)

they look about the same. So 7 across thumbnails don't look blurry, but sized up to 3 across, they are.

My new iPad seems to be in the process of generating the Preview sized images, and that may take awhile. I'm just wondering if that's what's keeping your iPad from keeping 3 across-- it hasn't had time to generat the Previews, yet. So when you look at the thumbnails at 3 or 1 across, do they look like the left one above, or like the right one?

DTOregon wrote: …Why can’t I set it to be 3 or 5 and have that stick? Ugh.

As you can see, most of us can. Have you left your iPad sleeping, plugged in (rather than magsafed) overnight in an area with a solid internet connection for several nights? Have you "reversed pinched" in the Library (not Photos) section?

Thank you for trying to help. I can follow your instructions for the first part (and reverse pinch is miles better than going through the options route, so thank you for that) and chose 5 across which is a good size for an iPad, but it goes wrong when it gets to 'exit and close Photos'. By 'exit' do you mean use the X at the bottom (to the right of the Years Months All choice)? If I do that, and then dismiss Photos (e.g. with the all fingers and thumb brought together gesture) the next time I open it I'm back to the view with very small / too many across thumbnails. Can you suggest what I'm doing wrong?

Thank you Lori! 3 across stays for me too, which is much better than 9. I'd been trying for 5 because that's what I've been used to for years. 3 means even more scrolling, but at least I can see what's in the pictures! . Apologies to Richard, I should have followed your instructions to the letter, you did say 3, and I just assumed the same would work for 5. It would be nice if future updates of IOS 18 allowed more of a choice, but I'll settle for 3 for now. Grateful for the patient help.

This is interesting, but means I'm confused again (though maybe at a higher level!). I can understand exactly what you're saying Richard in terms of your new iPad, but I don't understand whether what you are describing could have been at the root of my issue. I haven't changed either my iPad or my iPhone - I simply updated them both from iOS 17 to 18.1.1. So surely that wouldn't have required all the images in iCloud to re-download to the iPad? I don't have "optimise storage" turned on either, and I don't have as many photos as you - but still 9000+ and relatively slow rural broadband. I didn't notice any blurry thumbnails, but I didn't scroll very far up the grid. Please tell us what happens when you do get all your pictures downloaded. Meanwhile enjoy the screen on your new iPad!

I think you may have found the explanation at last Rchard. I didn't know anything about how thumbnails or preview-sized images worked before all this. All my thumbnails are really sharp. And Photos now seems to open reliably at 3 across. I don't quite have the courage at the moment to try reinstating 5 across on the iPad, which would be my preference, in case it all goes wrong again! (3 across is good on the phone). Thank you for sharing all your investigations on this issue.

Well unfortunately that should maybe be 'most of us could'. After following Richard's explanations I managed to set both my iPad and my iPhone to 3 across, and that was stable for about a week. Today, the iPad has reverted to 9 across without me having done anything apart from adding a handful of photos and deleting a similar number. The phone remains at 3 across. And I'm still on iOS 18.1.1. I'm not updating to 18.2 yet!

shelagh259 wrote: …This is so frustrating!

Sounds like it! It's weird that it works for me! Have you tried a forced restart of the iPad?

Restart your iPad - Apple Support