Photos in iOS 27 lets you rate photos and videos from 1 to 5 stars and tag them with your own keywords, then filter or search your library by either. Ratings start with one switch: open Photos, tap Collections, tap your Apple Account profile, and turn on Show Ratings Controls.
Apple’s iOS 27 guide documents both features, and they let you pull the best shots out of a big library without building albums by hand.
How to rate a photo or video
- Turn on Show Ratings Controls as above.
- Open a photo or video in Photos.
- Tap the Unrated button, then tap a star rating from 1 through 5.
Ratings then appear in the top-left corner of each image in the library grid. You don’t have to open every photo: touch and hold an image in the grid to change its rating, remove it, or rate an unrated image. After a trip or a big shoot, that is the faster way through a run of similar frames.
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Filter your library by rating
- In Photos, tap the Sort and Filter button.
- Tap Rating.
- Tap a rating level to see everything with that rating, or tap Unrated to see everything you haven’t rated.
To clear it, tap the star at the top of the library, then tap Remove Filters. The Unrated view doubles as a to-do list for each new batch of photos.
The Sort and Filter menu also lists Edited and Captured by Me, plus Media Types for photos, videos or screenshots, and Apple says “you can apply multiple filters at the same time.” Apple doesn’t define Captured by Me, but going by its name it pairs well with Rating when your library holds other people’s pictures. To cut clutter further, Sort and Filter > View Options hides Screenshots, From My Mac and Shared with You items.
How to add keywords
- Open a photo or video.
- Tap the Info button, or swipe up on the image.
- Tap Add Keywords, type one or more keywords, then tap Done.
- Swipe down to close the Info menu.
To add more keywords later, tap Edit in the field where they appear. Keywords work best for things Photos can’t tell from the picture, such as a client, a project or “print this.”
Search and manage your keywords
Tap the Search button and type. In the suggestions, keyword results have Aa in front of them, and you can type several keywords separated by spaces. Tap a suggestion to see every photo and video with that keyword.
To tidy up, tap Collections, tap your profile in the top-right corner, then tap Manage Keywords. Tap a keyword for three options:
- Add to Favorite: adds the keyword to the Keyword filter options in your library, albums and collections.
- Rename: changes the name of the keyword on your photos and videos.
- Delete: removes the keyword from your photos and videos.
Tap Add Keywords at the bottom of that screen to create a new one. Set up favorites first, since they turn a tag like a family name into a filter. If you shoot heavily with an iPhone 18 Pro, ratings and keywords together make the keepers easy to find.
