Add To Album sort order in Photos app is locked to Custom Order

Question

Level 1

13 points

Add To Album sort order in Photos app is locked to Custom Order

I organize all of my photos using the Add To Album feature but noticed that the Albums were not in any order that made sense.

Digging through the Photos App (under Collections > Albums) I noticed could sort by Date Modified, Name, and Custom Order.

The Add To Album function, in particular, seems locked to “Custom Order” and there appears to be no way to change it either within the feature itself or via Settings (Apps > Photos). If I want to change how Add To Album displays I have to manually set the Sort Order.

This should be changed such that it is a setting that can be changed OR inherits the Sort Order from standard Album view.

Posted on Aug 21, 2026 4:31 PM

Reply

Answer 1

SeanVon Author

Level 1

13 points

Aug 22, 2026 6:54 AM in response to léonie

Sure, no problem

Photos App on iPhone
iOS 26.6 (though I first noticed this issue months ago)
Standard Album

To reproduce the issue:

Open the Photos App
If it does not open to the Library, where all photos are displayed, navigate there using the Library button on the lower left corner
Select any photo and expand it
Tap the action button on the lower left corner (box with an arrow coming out)
Tap “Add to Album”
The albums displayed will be in the “Custom Sort Order” not Alphabetical or by Modified Date*

*This can be verified by changing the order of albums in Custom Sort order and following the steps to reproduce

Reply

Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

203,809 points

Aug 22, 2026 1:28 AM in response to SeanVon

Could you please elaborate a bit, so we can try to reproduce the problem?

Are you asking about Photos on a Mac or Photos on a mobile device (iPhone, iPad, iPad Touch)?
Which system version is installed on your device?
And what kind of album are you asking about? A standard album or a Shared album?

Reply