This iOS 16 feature will make editing a ton of photos a breeze

Ios 16 Features Tiles (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

Apple's iOS 16 will allow people to copy and paste photo edits.
With iOS 16, edits can be made to one photo and then duplicated across other photos without manual work.
The process is as easy as copying and pasting.

Apple's upcoming iOS 16 update has a feature that will change the game for people who need to be able to quickly and easily edit multiple photos on their iPhone or iPad. With iOS 16 installed, people will be able to make edits to a single photo and then apply them to others without manually repeating the steps.

The feature, which wasn't part of the iOS 16 announcement during WWDC22, is mentioned on a webpage shared by Apple to help promote the update. According to that page, users will be able to "copy the edits you've made to a photo and paste them onto another photo — or a batch of photos."

In practice, using the feature is as simple as applying edits to a single photo — changing the colors, for example — and then copying those edits via a new menu option. Applying the edits to other photos is a case of choosing them and selecting an option to paste the edits themselves.

With iOS 15 and earlier, people wanting to apply these kinds of edits to multiple photos would need to download a third-party app from the App Store. That is no longer the case, or at least it won't be once iOS 16 arrives later this year.

Photos Ios 13 Iphone Xs Max Hero (Image credit: iMore)

While the multiple-photo editing feature might not be the best iPhone feature iOS 16 will offer — the new Lock Screen experience takes that crown — it's own that will be a huge benefit to people who edit their photos and would normally have to do so one-by-one or download an app to automate it.

Apple announced iOS 16 earlier this week and developers have been testing its first beta release ever since. Those hoping for a public beta will need to wait until next month, Apple says, while everyone else will be able to try this feature and more when the final update is released to the world. That's expected to happen in or around September, likely when Apple also announces the new iPhone 14 lineup.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.