On This Day

On This Day

Same season, same month, same day. Different years.

Coming Soon

On This Day showing one card per year for September 6, each with a cover photo and a photo count

Every day a new view: your photos from this day in previous years. Children grow up, everyone grows older, some of the faces and places remain the same, some come and go. Sit back and take a trip through the years. Every day a different path.

The On This Day home screen listing 1, 2, 5, 6, and 9 years ago

Scroll through the years

There's a card for every year you have photos from on this day. Sometimes it's only one, other times lots more. Tap the card to dive into this day in that year.

Revisit that day

Everything from today's date on the year you've chosen. Panoramas stay wide and portraits stay tall, so you can tell them apart. (Don't worry, you can filter out the screenshots and photo bursts.) Tap one or select a group to share or delete.

A day's photos in the On This Day grid, titled 2 years ago
The full-screen viewer showing a lakeside photo with its place and date, and favorite and share buttons

Look closer

Tap a photo to see its details, including where and when it was taken. Tap again to see it fullscreen. Swipe to the next one, or pinch to zoom in. You can favorite it, rotate it, share it, or delete it right there. Your changes show up in Photos.

A new iMessage being composed with two photos from On This Day attached

Connect through the past

Share one or more photos at a time on Facebook, in email, with Messages, on Instagram, however and with whomever you want to share your memories. They will be delighted.

An iPhone Home Screen with the On This Day widget showing a lake photo captioned 2 years ago today

Right on Your Home Screen

You don't even have to remember to open the app. The widget shows one "on this day" photo, updated every day. Tap it and that photo opens in the app. It comes in small and medium, and works in a Smart Stack.

Favorites first

If you've hearted a photo in Photos, that's the one that leads its year.

Share with a caption

Shared photos come with how many years ago it was, and where, if the photo has a location.

Screenshots optional

Filter out screenshots and photo bursts, or keep them in. It's up to you.

Light or dark

Follow the system, or pick one.

iPhone and iPad

One column on a phone, up to three on an iPad. iOS and iPadOS 17 or later.

Pull to refresh

Just downloaded some photos? Pull down to refresh.

Your photos never leave your phone

On This Day reads your photo library and that's it. There's no server, no account, and no tracking. Totally private.

If you only give it access to some of your photos, it works with those and says so. Changing the selection is one tap away.

Questions

What does On This Day do?

It looks through your photos for anything taken on today's month and day in earlier years, and shows you one page per year. Tap a year to see the photos from that day, and tap a photo to see it full screen.

How is this different from Memories in Photos?

Memories picks what to show you and when. On This Day doesn't pick. Every day it shows every year you have photos from that date, and the widget does the same thing on your Home Screen.

Do my photos leave my phone?

No. There's no server, no account, and no tracking. The widget keeps a few small thumbnails on your phone, and they blur on the Lock Screen the same way Photos does.

What if I only give it access to some photos?

That works. It searches the photos you picked, tells you that's what it's doing, and gives you a one-tap way to change the selection.

How does the widget work?

It shows one photo from this day in an earlier year, with a caption saying how many years ago. Tap it and that photo opens in the app. It changes at midnight, and opening the app gets the next few days ready. It works in a Smart Stack too.

Which devices does it run on?

iPhone and iPad, on iOS or iPadOS 17 or later.

When can I get it?

Soon. It's not on the App Store yet. This page will have the link when it is.