Check if Someone AirDropped Photos or Videos to Your iPhone
The release of iOS 18 has transformed the Photos app with a refreshed visual design and a cohesive layout that redefines how users navigate the app. While features driven by AI, such as Clean Up, steal the spotlight, the new Photos app includes a variety of other functionalities.
It’s not uncommon to hand your iPhone to a friend or family member for different reasons—perhaps they want to make a quick phone call or browse content. However, this can raise concerns about accidentally uncovering your private photos or, even worse, transferring them to their device.
This is where several new features integrated into the Photos app can help. These tools give you insights into whether someone has accessed your photos or AirDropped them to their device. Here’s how to utilize these features:
- Ensure your compatible iPhone is running iOS 18.
- Open the Photos app and scroll to the “Utilities“collection.
- Tap the “Utilities“header or swipe through the options to access the “Recently Shared“album.
- The Recently Shared album displays all photos and videos that have been AirDropped from your device or shared to other apps like WhatsApp recently.
The Recently Shared album offers valuable insights into which images and videos were shared. While this album includes AirDropped items, it does not label them distinctly from media shared via other apps. Additionally, content saved to the Files app from Photos will also appear in this album.
Moreover, photos and videos shared to WhatsApp (or other applications) will only show up in this album if the sharing was done through the Photos app. In essence, if someone accesses your phone, opens WhatsApp, and uploads a photo, it will not appear in the Recently Shared album.
If you discover a photo or video that you did not actively share, you can investigate by checking individual apps for clues. If the content doesn’t show in a messaging app, there’s a possibility that the other person AirDropped it.
In the Utilities section, you’ll also find another album called “Recently Viewed.”This album tracks what its name suggests: if someone accessed your photos or videos—even those from years ago—they will be listed here.
This is how you can keep track of activities within the Photos app on your iPhone. Additionally, with iOS 18, users can delete excessively long videos from their iCloud Photos storage to free up valuable space.
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