Apple Releases Developer Preview of Photos, the iPhoto Replacement for OS X

Apple has released a new developer seed of OS X 10.10.3, which includes a beta of the new Photos app. The preview shows off the new app's interface, which is similar to that of the Photos app on iOS. One of the main attractions of Photos is its promised ability to handle large image libraries without slowing down.

Photos, including edits, are aggregated from across a user's devices and saved to iCloud so that they are also available from any device. Shared streams can also be seen and managed. Photos can of course be shared to social networks and contacts, slideshows can be created, and printing options such as photo books and greeting cards will be available in some regions.

Much like on iOS, Photos are organised into Moments, Collections and Years, and users can zoom out to see thumbnail overviews of groups of photos. Smart albums automatically gather all panoramas, burst shots, slow-motion videos, etc. Advanced editing tools allow users to crop, rotate, retouch and apply filters to photos. Other adjustments include colour, definition, vignette, and white balance levels. Apple's smart editing tools group controls that affect each other, such as brightness and exposure. A user can make fine adjustments to all by dragging a single slider, or adjust them individual if so desired. EXIF information can be edited in batches across multiple photos, and you can also tag people, places and keywords.

iCloud integration will be emphasised heavily. Users can choose to free up space on their devices by retaining only low-resolution versions of photos, while high-res ones are offloaded to Apple's online storage service. Unlike the Photo Stream function, these will count against a user's storage limit, as Macworld notes.

Developers with access to pre-release versions of OS X can find the Photos app in the Mac App Store, and it is also available as a standalone download through the Mac Dev Centre.

Apple first announced the Photos app, which will replace iPhoto as well as Aperture and unify the photo organisation and sharing experience across iOS and OS X, in mid-2014 at its annual World Wide Developers Conference. While OS X Yosemite was released later in 2014, the Photos app will only be available in spring 2015. It will be a free update for all OS X Yosemite users.