by After nearly two years, the mobile edition of iPhoto has finally hit version 2.0, leaving skeuomorphic UI elements behind in order to better fit into an iOS 7 world. Unlike iLife companions iMovie and GarageBand, there’s not a whole lot to get excited about, aside from editing improvements for Camera Roll images.
That’s not to say that iPhoto 2.0 isn’t worth the upgrade, particularly now that it’s free with new devices. The mobile version adds the ability to create and order hardback photo books, as well as prints in a variety of sizes, although both are more expensive than services like Shutterfly, whose own iPad photo book app is ultimately superior. iPhoto 2.0 includes 64-bit support for the latest iOS devices, and indeed, it’s more fluid as a result. Apple has also added new effects categories, including built-in iOS 7 Camera Filters, but still falls short of offerings from competing third-party apps such as Photogene or FX Photo Studio.
However, iPhoto does take baby steps toward a brave new world by allowing Camera Roll images to be deleted from inside the app — a function previously limited strictly to the built-in Photos app. Also, edited Camera Roll images now display as such when viewed or shared, eliminating the need to export duplicates once effects have been applied.
Although iPhoto is now fast enough to mostly eliminate the annoying prompts that plagued earlier versions, the app still isn’t a great companion for iCloud images. Even after updating and verifying photo libraries on both iPhone 5s and iPad Air, numerous Photo Sharing images were missing during our testing. Turns out the only way to get them to appear in iPhoto is to first view them from the built-in Camera app, and then allow iPhoto to once again update the library. There’s also still no way to sync or archive images with the desktop version of iPhoto.
The bottom line. Faster and sleeker than before, iPhoto 2.0 for iOS is still a great way to edit photos on the go, but falls short of our dreams of the ultimate way to manage photos in the cloud.
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