Still baking? Wrapping presents? Preparing for guests? This year for our holiday celebrations, with the best of intentions, I promised myself I would organize some of my 8,943 photos and 822 videos into creative slideshows that would amaze and astonish relatives and friends. Completion date was set for early December.
It didn’t happen, but the good news is that I still have dozens of automatically generated slideshows called “Memories” in the “For You” tab of the iPhotos App just sitting there waiting to play on any iPhone, iPad or Mac computer. Even on an iWatch! Android phones have similar functions through Google Photos as do PCs using Windows. Here we will describe how the For You section, particularly the Memories function, works on Apple devices.
The Memories feature in the iPhotos app creates a personalized collection of photos and videos that are set to music and that you watch like a movie.
Your iPhone (iPad or Mac) groups together photos and videos you’ve taken in similar time periods and places and creates preset slideshows with those photos.
If you have your device nearby, you may want to grab it to follow along as you read this article. The best way to learn how to use the Memories section of the For You tab in your iPhotos app is to play with it. Try it out!
Do remember that while the elements of the iPhotos app are essentially the same across all devices, they may be in different locations and look a bit different. While the iPhone and iPad have the four iPhotos app tabs across the bottom of the device — Library, For You, Albums and Search — the Mac computer’s iPhotos app has a different configuration.
Here is a quick explanation of the function of each feature:
• Library – view all your photos, broken down by year, months or days.
• For You – holds all of your most important and memorable photos and videos and gives you several viewing options including auto-generated slideshows.
• Albums – build and view your own albums, shared albums and more; also see media types (videos, selfies, live photos and more).
• Search – this is particularly helpful to search by Moments, People, Places, Categories and more to find particular photos and videos.
You will find your slideshows in the For You tab under Memories. You will also see Featured Photos, Shared with You, Shared Album Activity and more. But for the slideshows, you want to stick with Memories. Press “See All” to see all the slideshows that your device has made for you.
All done-for-you content is organized into various categories and by different subjects. On my iPhone, examples of Memories include “9 Years Ago,” “Snow Days,” “Cooking,” “My Time in Maine” and many Memories organized by the name of a person. Lots of wonderful photos of grandkids, pets and places I have visited.
You can customize Memories by tapping the screen to play the Memory, then tap the screen to show several controls, then tap Pause. Tap the memory mixes button to change sound. Swipe through the options to choose a new look and song. Further options allow you to select or de-select the photos and videos you want to include, change the title, adjust the length and share it with someone else. When finished customizing your memory, you can watch it in the iPhotos app or tap More to airplay on a smart TV.
But don’t feel that you have to change anything. There are many hours of pleasurable viewing simply by watching the slideshows that have been created for you. We suggest that you may want to preview the many Memories, so you are ready to choose the ones you want to share with family and guests. This will save time when you have your crew gathered around your smart TV or other appropriate device when the fun begins with your custom-made slideshows.
If you really do have some time and want to make your own Memories from scratch, head to the Albums tab in your Photos app and tap the plus sign at the top to start an Album, which when done is a Memory.
One of the things I like about the holidays is some down time to spend with family and friends, sharing past adventures, trips and events. For our family, we haven’t been together much since summer at camp. With 10 adults (all with iPhones) and all of us taking pictures like mad, the For You section of the iPhotos app to view Memories that are already created for us is the perfect way to catch up (with very little pre-planning needed).
And don’t forget the popcorn!
Happy Holidays from BoomerTECH Adventures, Jill, Chris and Ed.
BoomerTECH Adventures (boomertechadventures.com) provides expert guidance and resources to help Boomers and older adults develop competence and confidence using their Apple devices. Boomers themselves, BoomerTECH Adventures rely on their skills as educators to create experiences that meet individual needs through videos, Zoom presentations, tech tips, and timely blog posts.
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