iPhoto is a discontinued image editing software application developed by Apple Inc. for use on its

Mac OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

. It was included with every Mac computer from 2002 to 2015, when it was replaced with Apple's Photos application in OS X 10.10 Yosemite. Originally sold as part of the iLife suite of digital media management applications, iPhoto is able to import, organize, edit, print, and share digital photos.

History

iPhoto was announced at Macworld 2002, during which Steve Jobs (then-CEO of Apple) also announced that

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

-X would be the default operating system on new Macs, and revealed new iMac and iBook models. On March 7, 2012, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced an iOS-native version of iPhoto alongside the third-generation iPad. On June 27, 2014, Apple announced that they would cease development of iPhoto and work on a transition to their new Photos app. On February 5, 2015 Apple included a preview of Photos with a beta release of OS X Yosemite. On April 8, 2015, Apple released OS X Yosemite 10.10.3, which included the new Photos app. iPhoto and Aperture were discontinued and removed from the Mac App Store, but can still be downloaded by users who previously purchased them. macOS Mojave 10.14 was the last version of macOS to officially support iPhoto. A free, open-source application called Retroactive can modify iPhoto to enable it to continue running on macOS Catalina through macOS Sonoma.

Features

macOS version

iPhoto is designed to allow the importing of pictures from

digital camera A digital camera, also called a digicam, is a camera that captures photographs in Digital data storage, digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film or film stock. Dig ...

s, local storage devices such as USB flash drives, CDs, DVDs and hardrives to a user's iPhoto Library. Almost all digital cameras are recognized without additional software. iPhoto supports most common image

file format A file format is a Computer standard, standard way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file. It specifies how bits are used to encode information in a digital storage medium. File formats may be either proprietary format, pr ...

s, including several

Raw image format A camera raw image file contains unprocessed or minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, a motion picture film scanner, or other image scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed, ...

s. iPhoto also supports videos from cameras, but editing is limited to trimming clips. After photos are imported, they can be titled, labeled, sorted and organized into groups (known as "events"). Individual photos can be edited with basic image manipulation tools, such as a red-eye filter, contrast and brightness adjustments, cropping and resizing tools, and other basic functions. iPhoto did not, however, provide the comprehensive editing functionality of programs such as

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

's own Aperture, Adobe's Photoshop,

Album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

) or

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. iPhoto offers numerous options for sharing photos. Photo albums can be made into dynamic slideshows, with the option to add music imported from

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

. Photos can be shared via iMessage,

Mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Flickr Flickr ( ) is an image hosting service, image and Online video platform, video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was previously a co ...

and

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. Creating and sharing iCloud Photostreams is possible as well. iPhoto is also able to sync photo albums to any

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

with a color display. These

s might also have an audio/video output to allow photos to be played back, along with music, on any modern

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

. Additionally, photos can be printed to a local printer, or, in certain markets, be sent over the internet to Kodak for professional printing. iPhoto users can order a range of products, including standard prints, posters, cards, calendars, and 100-page hardcover or softcover volumes, although such services are available only to users in certain markets.

iOS version

At an Apple media event on March 7, 2012, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a new version of iPhoto for iOS. iPhoto for iOS was made available that day on the App Store for 4.99, alongside the already-released

iMovie iMovie is a free video editing software, video editing application made by Apple Inc., Apple for the Mac (computer), Mac, the iPhone, and the iPad. It includes a range of video effects and tools like color correction and image stabilization, b ...

and

GarageBand GarageBand is a software application by Apple Inc., Apple for macOS, iPadOS, and iOS devices that allows users to create music or Podcast, podcasts. It is a lighter, amateur-oriented offshoot of Logic Pro. GarageBand was originally released for ...

for iOS. It officially supports the

iPhone 4 The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iPhone models, fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the iPhone 4s. Following a number of notable leaks, ...

and later,

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a po ...

(4th and 5th generations), iPad 2 and later and iPad Mini (1st and 2nd generations), but users discovered that it could be installed manually on older devices using Apple's iPhone Configuration Utility. iPhoto for iOS offers a feature set fairly comparable to that of its Mac counterpart. It can organize photos that are synced to the device or taken with its camera. Editing features include color correction tools and photo effects, as well as cropping and straightening tools. iPhoto for iOS lacks tools for creating books, calendars, cards and ordering prints. It can, however, create "Photo Journals": digital photo collages that can be uploaded to

iCloud iCloud is the personal cloud service of Apple Inc. Launched on October 12, 2011, iCloud enables users to store and Data synchronization, sync data across devices, including Apple Mail, Calendar (Apple), Apple Calendar, Photos (Apple), Apple Ph ...

and shared. iPhoto for iOS was highly praised for its professional tools, good performance and compatibility. iPhoto for iOS was discontinued in 2014 and removed from the App Store in favor of the Photos app, which shipped with iOS 8.

References

External links