Just a couple of weeks after it removed the Camera Roll from the iPhone’s new operating software, iOS 8, Apple may be bringing it back from the dead.
According to tech site Product-Reviews, the early version of Apple’s first major iOS 8 update, iOS 8.1, went out to app developers recently. And there they spied the briefly missing, and presumably soon-to-be-resurrected, Camera Roll.
When iOS 8 launched on Sept. 17, it surprised iPhone users with a new way of organizing photos. iOS 8 eliminated the familiar Camera Roll—a repository for all images stored on the device—as well as the My Photostream folder, which holds the most recent photos you’ve synced across all your iDevices.
Users could go to the universal Photos tab to find all their images, and could flip to their newest snaps in the Recently Added album—whether newly taken with the iPhone or synced from other Apple gadgets.
The more streamlined approach to photo management was no doubt intended to simplify things for users. Instead, it confused and alarmed many of them.
https://twitter.com/hcesarlopez/status/516380091405045760
Now Apple appears to be backtracking in the face of user outrage. It’s important to note, though, that beta software sometimes includes things that don’t make it to the final version. Still, the company does appear to be at least thinking about it, giving Camera Roll devotees new reason to hope.
The iOS 8.1 official release, with support for Apple Pay, is expected on October 20, though of course Apple hasn’t confirmed that. It may coincide with the announcement of new iPads and the release of Mac OS 10.10 Yosemite.
Lead photo by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite; screenshot courtesy of Product-Reviews
