Since iOS 10 launched last year, the Photos app has been capable of generating video montages based on “memories” that your iPhone or iPad automatically picks out from your camera roll. It’s a really cool feature, and one that a lot of people still don’t know exists – which is why Apple has just launched the one-two punch of a new commercial and a video tutorial to explain Photo Memories in more detail.
The 90-second ad shows an old film editor painstakingly assembling video clips from a huge physical archive, just to hammer home how hard it used to be to create content like this. It then shows an iOS-created montage, as if to suggest that the film editor lives in your device and is called upon every time you need the magic to happen. It’s a nice concept, well shot, and you can check it out below.
To partner this new ad, Apple also revealed a super-short video tutorial to show you how to access these cool memories. It’s fun and well edited, but we’re not sure it needed to be a whole video – the steps boil down to “open Photos, tap Memories, press Play.” You can view the clip in full on YouTube if you like, but we’d recommend you take a slightly deeper dive into the world of Photo Memories and check out our quick guide on how to customize them. That way you can adjust the style, the length, and even which pictures are included!
Oh, and when iOS 11 rolls around this September, Photo Memories are set to become even cooler – perhaps that’s why Apple is reminding everyone they exist.