[Digital Today reporter Jinju Hong] Apple is expanding generative editing, shared albums, and organisation and search functions in the Photos app in macOS 27.

According to IT media outlet 9to5Mac on Sept. 17 local time, the update focuses on refining core workflows for editing, sharing and finding photos rather than a major screen redesign.

The biggest change is stronger editing features using Apple Intelligence. On compatible Macs, users can access related functions through a new tool panel. Apple said the Clean Up feature can now handle larger subjects and more complex scenes more naturally. It is adding a quick mode to remove small flaws quickly and a high-quality mode aimed at edits that were previously difficult to process.

It is also adding Extend, a feature that generates areas outside an image to widen the frame. It can be used to straighten horizons, change aspect ratios, or create space around a subject. It can also be used directly within the crop tool.

Spatial Reframing is also being added. After the Photos app creates a 3D view of a scene using an on-device spatial model, it rotates or shifts the viewpoint around the subject and zooms in or out to create results as if the camera position changed. An image model fills in areas left empty by the new viewpoint.

Sharing has also been overhauled. iCloud Shared Albums now support full-resolution sharing and can accept a wide range of common photo and video formats. Apple also expanded compatibility with users outside its ecosystem. Users on Android or Windows 11 can join shared albums and upload photos through iCloud.com.

Features to reduce everyday inconvenience have also been added. Users can save all photos in a shared album to their personal library with a single click, and set albums that do not need to be kept long term to expire after 30 days. This makes it easier to run shared albums for temporary projects or events.

Organisation tools have also been strengthened. Users can turn bundles of photos and videos into slideshows and adjust playback time, transitions and music. Completed slideshows are saved as video files in the photo library. They can be played again or shared without recreating the same setup.

A new "Photos I Took" collection is also being added. It gathers and shows photos taken not only on the current device but also with the camera apps of devices previously used. The same criteria can also be used as a filter in other areas of the library. It also adds a 1 to 5 star rating feature so photographers or advanced users can classify their work separately. Ratings are turned off by default and must be enabled in the Photos app settings.

It also includes performance improvements that are not obvious on the surface. macOS 27 adjusts iCloud Photos sync priorities to support faster uploads of new photos and videos. The change is useful for quickly checking large batches of imported photos on other devices.

The search foundation is also changing. Apple said it rebuilt the search system used in Spotlight, Photos and Mail. The new system is designed to index content more comprehensively and remain up to date throughout the day. Apple expects this to improve library browsing and search accuracy in the Photos app.

The changes are closer to an update that refines the overall user flow than the Photos app's appearance. It adds more generative features for editing, lowers platform barriers for sharing, and adds ratings and a shooting-criteria collection for management. With changes to sync and search as well, the Photos app in macOS 27 is set to move toward improving both everyday usability and collaboration convenience.