Windows 11 New Photos App: Changes (& Alternatives)

The latest 22H2 update for Windows 11 brings a lot of new upgrades. One such improvement lies with the new Photos app.

The new Photos app is now faster and easier to use. It also gets a redesigned editor with an overall UI bump and performance improvements. You get a gorgeous edge-to-edge view of all your photos and a new “multi-view” feature that allows you to compare multiple photos in a single window.

Scroll below to learn more about the awesome newly redesigned Photos app and the alternatives you can use.

Note: If you found your PC is filled with dozens of unnecessary images, here is a tip on How to Clean and Save Space on Windows 11.

New changes for Photos on Windows 11

The new Photos app brings a lot of changes and upgrades for an overall seamless user experience. Here are a few notable improvements that offer a significant redesign and increment over the older generation Photos app:

1. Redesigned UI – The new Photos app offers a reimagined UI that comes flows perfectly with Windows 11’s interface. The new UI even has a dark mode, perfect for users who want to conserve battery life and offer a better nighttime view. Moreover, you can mark “favorite” images for quick access to them.

2. Filmstrip and Edge-to-Edge Viewing – You can now watch your photos edge-to-edge without any cropping, and you also get access to a Filmstrip below for quick access to all your pictures in a folder.

3. Multi-View – Photos also come with a new multi-view experience. It allows you to compare multiple photos in a single window. This can be activated by selecting various items from the filmstrip toolbar right at the bottom of the photo viewer.

4. Revamped Editing Tools – The enhanced editing tools and features are another considerable upgrades to the Photos app. You can crop, rotate, view metadata, and draw using a stylus on supported devices.

5. Memories and OneDrive Integration – This new tab on the Photos app allows you to easily back up and manage all your photos with OneDrive. So, you won’t lose any of your photos even if your PC stops working. This helps you get a personalized experience every time you use the standard Photos gallery to view your images.

Photos app alternatives

If you don’t like the Microsoft Photos app and want something new or lightweight, then I recommend looking at the apps below:

1. ImageGlass – A free and lightweight image viewer

ImageGlass is most definitely the ideal alternative to the native Photos app. It comes with an easy-to-use UI with a toolbar up top. The UI looks modern as well and offers easy and quick editing tools. You can install ImageGlass in minutes, which only takes a minimal amount of space.

The app offers excellent performance and is even compatible with 80+ formats, including RAW. Moreover, you can get it for free and even customize it with themes, language packs, and more.

If you want a fresh image viewer that doesn’t look too out of place from the new Windows 11 UI, then ImageGlass is the way to go.

2. Luminar Neo – best alternative for photo editing

One of the best photo editing apps that you can get for your Windows PC. Luminar Neo is a great tool that offers hundreds of editing tools and extensions. You can fix skin imperfections, highlight beautiful facial features, create a creamy bokeh background blur, and more with just a single click.

It uses the power of AI to suggest auto edits and produce realistic images with excellent sharpness, structure, brightness, and contrast.

RELATED: Luminar AI vs. Luminar Neo – The Race for Photo Editor

I love how great it is for people who love to tinker with their images to get the best quality. However, it can get a bit confusing to beginners. So, if you’re a pro and know what you’re doing, then Luminar Neo is a great alternative to the standard Photos app.

3. Movavi Picverse – best alternative for photo organization and management

Movavi Picverse is an image viewer and organizer with a minimal UI. The app helps you manage your photo collection, including RAW, JPEG, PNG, and more image formats. Plus, Movavi’s photo organizer is an essential tool for saving time and space.

The app also helps you instantly adjust colors, remove particles or objects, and more – thanks to its AI technology.

Moreover, the app also offers organization depending on the parameters such as geolocation, facial recognition, and more. So, if you want an image viewer that will automatically organize all your photos and categorize them, then Movavi Picverse is the app to use.

FAQs on Windows 11 new Photos app

Is Windows Photos app good?

Yes, the Windows Photos app is pretty good. You can use it to view a lot of image formats, and it also includes some great editing tools for you to use. Moreover, it is pre-installed on your Windows PC and perfectly fits in with the overall UI. The new Photos app even brings OneDrive support and other highlights that help keep your images safe on a cloud storage drive.

What is better than Windows Photo viewer?

There are multiple apps that are better than Windows Photo Viewer at one thing or another. However, some great apps that can rival the Photos app include ImageGlass, JPEGView, and Luminar Neo. All these apps offer a great experience with support for various file formats and editing tools.

Is the Windows 11 Photo app free?

Yes, the Windows 11 Photo app is free to use. In fact, it comes pre-installed with every Windows PC and is the default image viewer. The app also offers some great new improvements and allows you to manage all your photos without slowing you down.

Final words

The Photos app has undergone many changes in the past few years. With a lot of new improvements, a modern UI, OneDrive integration, and support for many image types, the app has really fortified its ground in the Windows ecosystem.

Moreover, the Photos app has become an essential part of Windows and offers the best image viewing and managing experience. However, if you need a lightweight app like the good old days or want something more powerful with higher photo enhancing capabilities, I recommend choosing the above mentioned alternatives.

With that said, we have reached the end of our topic and hope you have a great time with the latest and greatest Windows 11 Photos app.

Resources & References

• Redesigned Photos app for Windows 11 begins rolling out to Windows Insiders
• Microsoft Releases Updated Photos App for Windows 11