Tiny Task #1 - Stop Scrolling: Use Your iPhone Photos Search Bar

Stop Scrolling: Use Your iPhone Photos Search Bar

You know the photo is in there somewhere—but finding it can feel impossible when you’re scrolling through years of memories, screenshots, videos, recipes, memes, and everyday life.

In this Tiny Task, we’re showing you how to use the search feature in your iPhone Photos app to find what you need faster. Instead of relying on dates or endless scrolling, try searching with the clues you remember: a person, place, activity, object, season, flower, or event.

Think: “kids playing in snow,” “P!nk concert,” “lilacs,” “margarita,” or “toddler running.”

Your Photos app can often recognize much more than you realize—and playing with the search bar when you’re not in a rush is the best way to learn what works in your own library.

Your Tiny Task

Open the Photos app, tap the magnifying glass search icon, and try searching for a few photos or videos you would love to find again.

Use the clues you remember, have a little fun with it, and see what memories pop up.

You do not need to organize your entire photo library before you can find one meaningful photo. Sometimes you have an organizing problem—and sometimes you just need a better finding tool.

Start Here: Listen to the Main Episode

This Tiny Task is part of our How Do I Find a Photo on My iPhone? series. Want the bigger picture first? [Click here to listen to the main episode.]

Next week, we’ll build on this Tiny Task with a simple strategy to help make those meaningful photos easier to find again and again.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
.679721282Have you ever known exactly what photo you're looking for but had absolutely no idea where to begin looking for it? Maybe it's a picture from a concert, your child in a Halloween costume, a specific vacation sunset, or that hilarious video you used to watch all the time. 2 00:00:15,707.346387948 --> 00:00:16,757.346387948 You know it exists. 3 00:00:16,977.345387948 --> 00:00:22,571.851658935 You can practically see it in your head, but scrolling through years of photos to find it, no thank you. 4 00:00:23,9.923495867 --> 00:00:24,369.923495867 Welcome back to Sorted Out. 5 00:00:24,449.923495867 --> 00:00:30,759.923495867 We are Christie and Amanda, childhood best friends turned professional photo organizers, and we are so glad that you're here. 6 00:00:30,909.923495867 --> 00:00:34,129.923495867 This podcast is all about photo organizing made simple. 7 00:00:34,369.923495867 --> 00:00:40,819.922495867 No guilt, no overwhelm, mixed with real-life mom moments and everyday lessons we're learning right alongside you. 8 00:00:41,9.440743923 --> 00:00:44,169.441743923 We're moms, we're busy, and life is messy. 9 00:00:44,419.441743923 --> 00:00:47,319.440743923 Around here, we're focused on progress, not perfection. 10 00:00:47,547.167639463 --> 00:00:53,147.167639463 And today, we're starting our How Do I Find My Photo on My iPhone? Tiny Task series. 11 00:00:53,467.167639463 --> 00:00:55,497.168639463 If you missed the main episode, don't worry. 12 00:00:55,537.168639463 --> 00:00:57,7.168639463 We'll link it in the show notes below. 13 00:00:57,209.851343798 --> 00:01:05,949.851343798 Amanda's gonna walk us through one simple but mighty tool, the search bar, to help you find those hidden memory gems without endlessly scrolling. 14 00:01:06,66.519010465 --> 00:01:14,95.185677132 Today's tiny task is about giving your photos app a few clues and letting the search bar do some of the work for you So let's jump in. 15 00:01:14,701.186677132 --> 00:01:25,519.154606148 Before diving into this tiny task of how do I find a particular photo on we wanna refresh why finding one photo can feel so difficult at times. 16 00:01:25,625.942395591 --> 00:01:39,596.732060019 Volume, sheer amount of photos that we take, and content, what we're taking photos of, is so much more than just for memory keeping now, which is how we used to take photos, just to take photos and maybe put in a photo album, just memory keeping. 17 00:01:39,772.909919355 --> 00:01:54,237.43215177 Our photos are now becoming to-do lists, reminders, funny things to tell someone, items to file and so on, in the form of screenshots, memes, recipes, quotes, receipts, school and sports information, schedules, on and on and on. 18 00:01:54,317.43015177 --> 00:02:02,574.80630143 And then there are features we don't really understand how or why we use them, nor do we always understand where the photos are coming from. 19 00:02:02,661.4729681 --> 00:02:13,743.92094769 For example, photos saved from Messages and WhatsApp, videos, different kinds of videos, high definition, standard definition, 4K, slow-mo, cinematic, live photos, burst photos. 20 00:02:13,820.58461436 --> 00:02:25,180.58961436 We aren't only searching through our memories and learning how to take photos on these different versions of our camera, we're searching through every visual piece of information collected by our phones. 21 00:02:25,270.58761436 --> 00:02:40,131.25528102 Our phones and our photography have so much more of a functional purpose now than just a memory-keeping purpose And so finding what we want has evolved, and we need different strategies to sift through all the clutter. 22 00:02:40,221.25528102 --> 00:02:55,484.58861436 Yes, storage is cheaper now, and technology is advancing, so we can let the clutter build without it becoming too much of a problem, but it's not helping with our decision-making overwhelm, which in turn is often what holds us back from actually spending time with the precious photos we do capture. 23 00:02:55,614.58761436 --> 00:02:57,534.58761436 Sometimes you have an organization problem. 24 00:02:57,627.92094769 --> 00:03:00,441.25528102 Sometimes you have a finding tool problem. 25 00:03:00,574.58761436 --> 00:03:02,764.58861436 Not the catchiest slogan, but you get what we're saying. 26 00:03:02,841.25528102 --> 00:03:06,151.25228102 Finding and organizing are related, but they are not the same task. 27 00:03:06,297.91994769 --> 00:03:15,851.25528102 We do know they can both be hurdles that keep us from spending time with our photos, as well as they can keep us from using our Photos app for the tool it really can be. 28 00:03:15,967.92294769 --> 00:03:22,111.25728102 For this tiny task today, we want you to forget about bigger organizational concepts and systems. 29 00:03:22,201.25828102 --> 00:03:24,731.25628102 Let's just learn some finding tools to get us by. 30 00:03:24,854.59161436 --> 00:03:28,464.59261436 You don't have to organize your entire library before finding one photo. 31 00:03:28,490.89873681 --> 00:03:42,653.44118294 And yes, there are multiple ways and tools you can use within your Photos library that can help you find your photos much faster than scrolling or even just the search bar, which we'll talk about but today, we do just want to focus on the one tool because we're keeping it simple. 32 00:03:42,669.17541196 --> 00:03:43,949.18141196 Small but mighty. 33 00:03:44,175.84507863 --> 00:03:47,855.84507863 Okay, let's stop scrolling and start thinking in clues. 34 00:03:47,985.84207863 --> 00:03:55,785.84507863 Thanks to advancement in intelligent search capabilities, our libraries can help us find photos simply by describing them now. 35 00:03:55,909.18141196 --> 00:03:57,999.17541196 We call this a contextual search. 36 00:03:58,109.18141196 --> 00:04:05,19.17541196 Your search bar can be your friend, and thinking with contextual clues of what you do remember can be helpful. 37 00:04:05,40.1910877 --> 00:04:07,420.1950877 Literally play around with the search. 38 00:04:07,545.33863229 --> 00:04:14,841.64021959 Beach sunset in Hawaii, kids playing in leaves, kids playing in snow, kids skating, kids playing in a park. 39 00:04:14,858.66796562 --> 00:04:31,600.00729895 What we love about a contextual search is that it simply involves you telling your Photos library what you want to find just by recalling contextual clues of the photo I'll explain where to find your search bar in a moment, but first, I just wanna give you my own context to this search strategy and how I've used it. 40 00:04:31,710.00729895 --> 00:04:38,770.00629895 As mentioned in the last podcast, I had been trying to find the examples in my photos collection of photos that we had taken on certain occasions. 41 00:04:38,890.00629895 --> 00:04:44,550.00729895 In this case, it was selfies of photos in front of a movie poster of whatever movie we had just seen. 42 00:04:44,616.67396562 --> 00:05:00,930.94795379 I think I was trying to use this as an example for a newsletter, I normally wouldn't want to search for these photos, but for this particular reason, I now wanted to gather up this series of photos that were taken over a span of 10 years at least, and I wanted to use them, so I needed to go on a bit of a treasure hunt. 43 00:05:01,27.61462046 --> 00:05:08,161.28835742 I couldn't remember off the top of my head when we had seen movies and had done this lately, where we had taken a selfie in front of a movie poster. 44 00:05:08,251.29035742 --> 00:05:13,951.29035742 A chronological scroll would be tedious to try to seek out this kind of photo, especially if I wanted a few of them. 45 00:05:14,17.95902409 --> 00:05:15,807.95702409 At first, I tried the search bar. 46 00:05:15,807.95702409 --> 00:05:22,687.96002409 I tried to just type in movie theater, thinking it might recognize movie theaters by location or by the clues in the photo. 47 00:05:22,751.29435742 --> 00:05:26,851.29335742 But to my surprise, it really only brought up concerts of all things. 48 00:05:26,904.62169075 --> 00:05:28,54.62469075 Okay, good to know. 49 00:05:28,97.95502409 --> 00:05:34,127.96002409 I knew I couldn't really search movie because it would actually bring up probably, I would think, all the videos, i.e. 50 00:05:34,167.95402409 --> 00:05:36,867.95902409 MOV files as well, which would not be helpful. 51 00:05:36,877.95402409 --> 00:05:40,57.95602409 It probably would just bring up what it considers movies. 52 00:05:40,140.50541666 --> 00:05:40,510.50541666 Okay. 53 00:05:40,510.50541666 --> 00:05:42,950.50741666 So then I tried movie poster. 54 00:05:43,91.10406206 --> 00:05:51,121.10306206 That wasn't really working at first, however, teaser, I will explain more on how I made this work in our next tiny task. 55 00:05:51,265.07744499 --> 00:05:52,795.08244499 But let's stay focused here. 56 00:05:53,85.07744499 --> 00:05:53,435.07744499 Okay. 57 00:05:53,645.08244499 --> 00:06:02,705.11897461 Initial search, I did finally recall that one of the movies we had seen was a Minions movie When I searched Minion, boom, my little guys in front of the Minion movie poster popped up. 58 00:06:02,725.11897461 --> 00:06:03,865.11897461 Yes, I have one. 59 00:06:03,966.97642532 --> 00:06:08,336.97542532 I then remembered, we for sure did this for a few Spider-Man movies as well. 60 00:06:08,346.97642532 --> 00:06:20,113.94241172 So instead of searching movie poster, I then searched Spider-Man, and boom, now I had three samples of our family in front of movie posters for an example of repeat themed photos we like to take. 61 00:06:20,213.79855457 --> 00:06:24,123.79755457 I decided to try one more search to see if I could narrow this down more. 62 00:06:24,163.79855457 --> 00:06:36,13.61941625 Instead of movie poster, I simply just searched for poster, and however that search engine is set up, it grabbed way more movie posters with the single word of poster instead of movie poster. 63 00:06:36,13.61941625 --> 00:06:36,500.99156591 Okay. 64 00:06:36,550.99156591 --> 00:06:43,550.99256591 I did have to sift a bit still through photos of posters, but it had narrowed the field enough that I could find what I wanted. 65 00:06:43,660.99156591 --> 00:06:58,855.67110559 And I'll tell you part two of Tiny Task in our next episode, the next mini task I did to ensure that now that I had found all these, quote, unquote, "movie poster photos," I did something to them to make sure I could find them again and again and again. 66 00:06:58,938.37005344 --> 00:07:06,307.99980117 So stay tuned next episode to find that little strategy Okay, and I do wanna share with you, this story very quickly as well. 67 00:07:06,477.99980117 --> 00:07:13,524.66646784 I did recall, I know there's a photo in there, when we went to see Jurassic Park movie, and when I tried to search... 68 00:07:13,534.66646784 --> 00:07:25,994.66646784 I actually tried to search Jurassic Park in my photo collection, and it brought up a video from years ago when one of my good friends dressed up as a T-Rex at a Halloween party. 69 00:07:26,41.33213451 --> 00:07:29,91.33213451 And of course, I watched the video and I just lost my mind laughing. 70 00:07:29,101.33213451 --> 00:07:35,624.28195121 So Jurassic Park did find a T-Rex in my photo collection, uh, but wasn't the T-Rex I was looking for. 71 00:07:35,644.28495121 --> 00:07:37,354.28195121 However, I still had a really good laugh. 72 00:07:37,354.28395121 --> 00:07:40,250.94961788 So, you know, just play with your search bar, see what comes up. 73 00:07:40,270.94961788 --> 00:07:41,660.94861788 You might have a good laugh as well. 74 00:07:41,757.61428455 --> 00:07:42,767.61828455 And that's what I want you to do. 75 00:07:42,807.61728455 --> 00:07:53,190.95161788 I would love to see if you can set some time aside to simply play with the search feature and kinds of photos you like to find that may or may not be organized yet. 76 00:07:53,240.94961788 --> 00:07:59,74.19451584 Even if you have an organized library, a search function still may be quicker than navigating even through albums. 77 00:07:59,154.19051584 --> 00:08:04,674.18851584 What's great is when you do make albums, those albums then become searchable in the search function as well. 78 00:08:04,684.19251584 --> 00:08:12,14.19351584 So it, it can quicken your ability to find photos still, but using that search function is really, really beneficial. 79 00:08:12,77.52784917 --> 00:08:17,167.52484917 And I think this will be fun for people who take photos of flowers, for example, or their gardens. 80 00:08:17,227.52484917 --> 00:08:19,967.52584917 You can play with the simple search of flowers. 81 00:08:19,987.52684917 --> 00:08:23,327.52384917 That's going to give you probably a lot of photos if you have a lot of photos of flowers. 82 00:08:23,479.01681763 --> 00:08:35,19.60540529 But if you know specific flowers that exist in your collection, like lilacs or lilies in the spring, or roses or hydrangeas or whatever, then Apple will do a great job to even bring up those specific flowers. 83 00:08:35,19.60540529 --> 00:08:35,889.59840529 It's really cool. 84 00:08:35,992.93173863 --> 00:08:46,562.93573863 If you can't remember when you went to that concert, simply type in concert and see how that can narrow down your search quickly enough to find the actual photo or video you want. 85 00:08:46,589.60440529 --> 00:08:57,159.19977718 I've done this with P!nk concerts in the past because I have been to six P!nk concerts, and I don't always remember which year or which concert that happened at. 86 00:08:57,169.20477718 --> 00:09:02,539.19277718 So what's really cool is now if I just type in concert, as an example, I do have them further labeled. 87 00:09:02,549.20477718 --> 00:09:12,889.20704475 However, if I just typed in concert, at least it would just narrow down to those photos and videos, from just the P!nk concerts, and I could then pick and choose which ones I was trying to look for from such a smaller search. 88 00:09:12,959.20004475 --> 00:09:25,948.54037808 Really cool And lastly, I did this today with a video I hadn't favorited yet, but we used to watch it all the time, and we haven't watched it in a really long time, of my youngest son running back and forth between rooms and giggling. 89 00:09:25,948.54037808 --> 00:09:26,368.54037808 That was... 90 00:09:26,428.53937808 --> 00:09:27,788.53937808 It was just so funny. 91 00:09:27,965.20704475 --> 00:09:36,195.20704475 Instead of scrolling through the timeline of when he was 18 months to three years old, I simply typed in 'Toddler running,' and I can't even believe it. 92 00:09:36,195.20704475 --> 00:09:37,895.20704475 It was the first video that came up. 93 00:09:37,905.20704475 --> 00:09:44,225.20704475 Maybe it was the first because I've watched it so many times in the past that Apple figured out, this is probably what she's looking for, and forgot where it is. 94 00:09:44,358.54037808 --> 00:09:45,548.53737808 But boom, there he was. 95 00:09:45,588.53937808 --> 00:09:46,8.53937808 Love it. 96 00:09:46,18.54037808 --> 00:09:46,818.54037808 So fun. 97 00:09:47,71.10767817 --> 00:09:48,271.10767817 Oh, it's so... 98 00:09:48,326.78664918 --> 00:09:56,336.55335164 It feels so good to just find photos or videos really, really quickly, and what a neat way to be able to find them is just by thinking about them. 99 00:09:56,415.40780177 --> 00:09:57,65.40780177 Really cool. 100 00:09:57,97.30411464 --> 00:09:58,787.30511464 Contextual recall. 101 00:09:58,866.01855605 --> 00:10:00,376.01755605 Okay, one more story 'cause I can't resist. 102 00:10:00,442.68422271 --> 00:10:01,172.68422271 Margarita. 103 00:10:01,212.68522271 --> 00:10:02,52.68222271 I was trying to play... 104 00:10:02,92.68222271 --> 00:10:10,462.68322271 like, come up with different examples that I could share with you, and, my sister-in-law had, had made some margaritas, over a period of time, and I, I couldn't... 105 00:10:10,496.01355605 --> 00:10:14,6.01355605 I was wondering if Apple would find margarita, so I typed in 'margarita.' 106 00:10:14,6.01555605 --> 00:10:17,869.34888938 Of course, a couple photos came up from Mexico, but they weren't the ones I was looking for. 107 00:10:17,889.35188938 --> 00:10:24,499.35288938 It was when she had gotten this new margarita mixer and had made them for us a couple times whenever I had gone back to Ontario. 108 00:10:24,569.35588938 --> 00:10:30,989.35188938 So I typed in 'mixer' to see what would come up, and perfect, there she was standing with the margarita mixer. 109 00:10:30,989.35188938 --> 00:10:32,519.34888938 So it, it was enjoyable. 110 00:10:32,519.35488938 --> 00:10:35,79.34888938 It's a lot of fun to, to play around with the search function. 111 00:10:35,99.34888938 --> 00:10:44,919.35388938 Again, when you're not, you know, in a rush or, pressed for time to try to find that photo when you can't figure out how to find it, this is the time to just take the time to learn about it and play around with it. 112 00:10:45,19.35388938 --> 00:11:01,865.22263768 And figure out, what do you often try to recall? What kind of photos do you try to bring up? What kind of themes or kinds of photos that are repetitive over a series of time that would be easy to search or, uh, easy combination of words to search? Use the clues you have. 113 00:11:01,866.02055605 --> 00:11:11,72.69822271 When you're in your Photos app on your iPhone, select the magnifying glass icon, which is your search icon, likely in the bottom right, depending on your version of your iOS. 114 00:11:11,202.69722271 --> 00:11:15,332.69522271 Type in contextual clues to play around with photos you might want to recall. 115 00:11:15,375.22963768 --> 00:11:19,971.2063565 If you're looking on your Mac, then the search bar is in your top right. 116 00:11:20,64.53968983 --> 00:11:21,44.53768983 Take time to play. 117 00:11:21,151.2033565 --> 00:11:21,691.2053565 Have fun. 118 00:11:21,841.2053565 --> 00:11:29,491.1983565 Learn how to use the tools a little more effectively in your Photos app, and see what memories pop up in front of you that you can visit. 119 00:11:29,634.54168983 --> 00:11:37,144.52768983 We've got more to build on this one that I think you're going to love even more in the next episode, but that tiny task is for next week. 120 00:11:37,172.98900729 --> 00:11:38,862.98200729 Until then, happy searching. 121 00:11:39,316.99000729 --> 00:11:41,46.99000729 Your tiny task this week is simple. 122 00:11:41,366.99000729 --> 00:11:45,96.99000729 Open the Photos app, tap the search icon, and play around. 123 00:11:45,256.99000729 --> 00:11:56,796.99000729 Think of a photo or video you'd love to find, then try searching with clues you remember, a place, a person, an activity, an object, or even a word like concert, lilacs, snow, or toddler running. 124 00:11:56,866.99100729 --> 00:11:57,526.99000729 That was a good one. 125 00:11:57,680.32434063 --> 00:11:59,340.32334063 There's no perfect search formula here. 126 00:11:59,540.32334063 --> 00:12:03,596.98900729 The more you play, the more you'll learn what your own photo library recognizes. 127 00:12:03,856.98900729 --> 00:12:08,766.99000729 And remember, you do not need to organize your entire library before you can find something in it. 128 00:12:08,880.32434063 --> 00:12:13,550.32434063 Sometimes you have an organizing problem, and sometimes you just need a better finding tool. 129 00:12:13,690.77558779 --> 00:12:21,480.77558779 Next time we're building on this one with a tiny task that can help you make those meaningful repeat photo moments easier to find again and again. 130 00:12:21,627.44225446 --> 00:12:26,957.44225446 And if this episode helped you find something you thought was lost in your camera roll, we would love to hear about it. 131 00:12:27,84.10892113 --> 00:12:30,914.10792113 Follow or subscribe to Sort It Out so you don't miss the next tiny task. 132 00:12:30,994.10892113 --> 00:12:33,64.10892113 And until then, happy searching