RollmarkHow to use the Favorites album on iPhone
Tap the heart under a photo and it joins the Favorites album. Use that heart as a keep signal during a cleanup, and delete the unhearted near-copies afterward. If the album seems to have disappeared, search for Favorites or check the pinned collections, since its location depends on your iOS version.
Coming soon to iPhone
How do I add a photo to Favorites?
Tap the heart again to remove it. Favoriting changes nothing about the file itself.
- Open the photo in Photos.
- Tap the heart under the picture or in the toolbar.
- To favorite several at once, tap Select, pick the photos, tap the three-dot menu and choose Favorite.
Where is the Favorites album?
It lives in Albums, and in recent versions of iOS it can sit under pinned collections or utilities, depending on how you arranged the screen. If you cannot find it, search the word Favorites in Photos, or filter the library to show favorites. A missing album usually means it moved, not that it was deleted. Hearts are stored in your library, so the photos are still marked.
How many favorites can I have?
There is no small limit that you will meet in normal use. The practical limit is your attention. When half of the library is hearted, the heart stops telling you anything. Treat it as a scarce signal. A good target is a few photos per month, and a few dozen for a special trip.
What is the best way to use hearts in a cleanup?
Use them as a first pass. Scroll through a month, tap the heart on the keepers and leave the rest. Then open the Favorites album, check it, and go back to the month to delete near-copies of the hearted ones. This keeps your best frames safe while you thin the pile. It also gives you a shortlist for a yearly album.
| Step | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heart the keepers in one month | A shortlist |
| 2 | Delete obvious misses | A smaller month |
| 3 | Delete near-copies of hearted photos | One frame per moment |
| 4 | Pick one heart as the month's best | A year of twelve |
Do favorites sync and survive a delete?
With iCloud Photos on, hearts sync to your other devices. A favorite is still a photo, so deleting it removes it like any other photo. The heart does not protect a photo from the trash. If you want a safety net, back up the album, as described in backing up iPhone photos before deleting.
Does the heart do anything else?
Favorites feed features. Photos uses them to choose key photos for memories, and some widgets and the Featured Photos view draw from them. Other apps that read your library can filter by favorites too. That is a good reason to keep the album honest: a smaller set gives better memories.
How is a mark different from a heart?
A heart is a loose flag with no limit and no scope. A mark in Rollmark, an iPhone app in development, is the one photo for a month. You choose it with an up swipe, and it becomes the cover of its month card, the large photo on the month recap and the center of the month share card. The Marks tab collects them as a 3 by 4 grid for the year. Rollmark keeps marks on your iPhone and does not add them to your Favorites album. See the monthly mark page.
What mistakes make Favorites useless?
- Hearting everything you like a little.
- Never revisiting the album.
- Using it as a hiding place, since nothing about it is private.
- Forgetting to heart before a big delete.
- Treating it as a backup. It is only a flag in your library.
A yearly check
- Open Favorites in December.
- Scroll from the beginning of the year.
- Remove hearts that no longer matter.
- Choose one photo per month for an album or a card.
- Print or share the twelve.
How do I use favorites with sharing?
Hearts make sharing fast. When a friend asks for the photos from a day, open the album or the filter, select the hearted photos and send those. A short set of ten good ones lands better than a folder of eighty. If you share a lot, keep a habit of hearting at the moment you take or receive a photo you know you will send.
Can I filter the main library to show only favorites?
Yes. In recent versions of iOS, the library grid has a filter or view option that limits what you see to favorites, and the same idea works in Search. It is an easy way to review your shortlist in date order, which is more useful than a flat album when you want to see how the months line up. Filters reset when you leave, so turn it on when you need it.
What about photos I hearted years ago?
Revisit them. Taste changes. A photo you loved in 2019 may feel ordinary now, and a photo you skipped may have grown. Spend ten minutes once a year with the oldest hearts and remove the ones that no longer mean anything. A smaller set is better for memories, widgets and any feature that draws on your favorites.
How do I keep favorites safe from my own mistakes?
Back them up in a place a delete cannot reach. Copy the album to a drive once a year, then check that a few files open. A heart is easy to lose when a large selection is deleted in a rush, and Recently Deleted holds the photo for only 30 days. Before a large cleanup, scroll through the Favorites album once, so that you know what is in there.
What should I heart while taking photos?
Do it when the shot is fresh. A heart tapped in the moment costs a second. A heart added a year later costs a scroll through thousands of items. If you take a dozen shots of one scene, heart the best one right then and delete the others at the end of the day.
Frequently asked questions
Where is my Favorites album on iPhone?
Look in Albums, in pinned collections or under Utilities, or search Favorites. The location depends on your iOS version.
How do I favorite many photos at once?
Tap Select, pick the photos, tap the three-dot menu and choose Favorite.
Does a favorite protect a photo from deletion?
No. A heart is a flag only. If you delete the photo, it goes to Recently Deleted like any other.
Is Favorites private?
No. It is a normal album. For privacy, use the Hidden album, which has its own lock.