Comment by Aerbil313

It was overdue for a redesign. I find the iOS 18 Photos app much more usable, it's been clearly redesigned with a focus to make a faster and more aesthetically pleasing interface for the experienced user. It's significantly denser too, with a single scroll (under half a second) you can access way more collections and utilities, and those you want because you can customize. And this makes sense, the Photos app is not a new-user app, every iPhone user uses it every day, every user is an experienced user.