Apple launched its dedicated Photos app for OS X as a developer preview today, and the app marks a clean break from iPhoto in almost every way, with the new software representing a completely new experience from basic code all the way to the user interface. But while it owes a lot to its mobile predecessor, it’s not just a port: The app has some of Aperture’s DNA, and its development team at Apple includes some of the same folks who previously worked on Cupertino’s pro offering.
While Photos is definitely aimed at general consumers, and isn’t meant as an Aperture replacement, it does a great job of reflecting the maturation of the general photographer – taking pictures was, at its outset, a hobby reserved for the wealthy and patient, has become so prevalent that if you were to hear about someone who simply didn’t take photos, you’d probably think they were at least a little weird. Ubiquitous photography means consumers will naturally want to go beyond just baseline with their picture-taking, and Photos reflects that.
Photos was designed with cross-platform user experiences in mind, so that the desktop app has a lot of similarities to the iOS version in terms of look and feel, and in terms of basic editing tools. Part of the engineering team behind it also built the iOS app, which is part of Apple’s larger strategy with third-party developers and Swift, too. But despite its initial similarities, it’s designed to maximize the benefit of the additional screen real estate you’ll get on a Mac, and you get more advanced editing tools plus features that take advantage of the Mac’s higher horsepower.
In some ways, Photos represents a considerable shift in the way Apple thinks about software experiences. More so than most other apps, it’s less about distinct products for every platform, and more about pushing Photos as a singular experience that’s available no matter how users want to access it – be it on iOS, on Mac, or on the web. Photos is a holistic activity that takes place across Apple’s hardware offerings (and beyond), and provided it works well for users, you can probably expect more of an approach where software experiences become transcendent of the different gadgets they call home. Each will still have strengths and features that change depending on where a user chooses to access them, but selling the experience reinforces the value of immersing yourself completely in an ecosystem, so unified product messaging is a natural end point.
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