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iOS 26’s Photos app has a helpful new feature for events: Here’s how it works

Avatar for Michael Burkhardt  | Jan 18 2026 - 1:19 pm PT
13 Comments
Apple’s Photos app iOS 26

At WWDC25, Apple introduced a few new capabilities to the Photos app for iOS 26. Most notably, it reintroduces a tab bar layout after last year’s controversial single-page redesign. It also allows you to create spatial scenes from existing photos.

On top of those headlining features, there’s another underlying feature in the Photos app for iOS 26 that a lot of users might appreciate, and thats event details. Let’s explain.

With iOS 26, if you’ve gone to a concert, sporting event, or some sort of major event – the Photos app will be able to recognize that, and group your photos as such. Additionally, it’ll be able to give you insights on the event. If you’re at a concert – it’ll give you the set list, the artists who performed, the venue, related playlists, and upcoming concerts. For sporting events, it’ll show you a scoreboard, the venue, and upcoming events.

Photos that have recognized events will have a special ticket button in place of the typical info button, and once you tap on it, you’ll be able to access the new events panel pictured below. Memories in the Collections tab will also be named after the specific concert or sports game you went to.

Top comment by Mike Potter

Liked by 7 people

This is pretty cool. I personally won't see a lot of benefit from it, as I rarely go to an "event", but I think this is a really neat thing for Apple to do.

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While this likely wasn’t high on anyones feature request list, it’s certainly a nice feature that many people will appreciate. At its core, the Photos app is meant to elevate your important memories, and having relevant details like a concert set list certainly delivers in that category.

What do you think of this new Photos feature in iOS 26? Let us know in the comments.

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Avatar for Michael Burkhardt Michael Burkhardt

Michael is a 9to5Mac Reporter, leading all of our Apple news coverage on weekends and reviewing the newest Apple products and accessories. He got started in the world of Apple news during the pandemic, and it became a growing hobby. He’s also an indie iOS developer, and started the weekly Indie App Spotlight series, which has covered hundreds of blooming new apps since it launched. In his free time, he enjoys shooting street photography around New York City on his Sony A7RV.

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