This patch focuses on a smoother upgrade for existing libraries. We fixed a startup issue that could affect some reels created on older versions, and the app now shows clearer progress while your library is being updated on launch. It should feel more dependable when opening HighlightReel after updating, especially if you already had work in progress.

Ranking is now grouped! Photos are automatically sorted into categories — Solo, Group, Animals, Food & Drink, Views, and more — so you're only comparing like against like. No wasted comparisons, and you reach your best picks much faster. We also removed a step from the curation flow so you go straight from duplicate cleanup into ranking without an extra pass in between. Results and export reflect the same groupings, and you can now share any photo or video directly from the viewer using the native iOS share sheet. Also in this update: faster ranking tabs, clearer loading states, better duplicate detection on borderline photos, and fixes for screenshot selections lost after date-range edits.

New: Create photo collages! Combine your best shots from a cluster into a single image with customizable layouts and per-tile reframing. Smarter duplicate detection — rebuilt from the ground up with multiple matching signals for more accurate grouping and fewer false positives. Redesigned event selection — quickly mark events as important, merge them together, or drag-select photos across the grid. Ranking is now faster and smoother — fixed interaction lag, card flicker, and improved swipe-to-dismiss across photo viewers. First Cut swipe animations are more polished, and the export screen now shows up to 50 of your top-ranked photos per event.

Smarter duplicate detection — photos with different crops of the same scene (4:3 vs 16:9) are now caught automatically. Rebuilt cluster gallery with reliable swiping and a new pinch-to-zoom focus mode. Safer backward navigation — editing screenshots or shared albums no longer wipes your curation progress. Exported videos keep their original capture date. Failed exports now show exactly which photos didn't make it. Moments bucket now ranks your top 20 photos (up from 10) for more thorough results. Faster multi-select in duplicate review, smarter merge logic, and more flexible event merging. Numerous stability fixes for thumbnail loading, dismiss gestures, and iCloud photo downloads.

**Guided Event Selection** A new step in the curation flow helps you quickly decide which events matter. Swipe through your detected events one by one — mark them as Must Include, Consider Later, or Disregard — so you can focus your time on the moments that count. **Date Exclusion Ranges** Need to include a broad date range but skip a few days? Use the new "Except" feature to exclude specific dates — like picking Nov through March but skipping that Dec 22–27 trip you already curated. **Performance Improvements** First Cut is now significantly faster for large events. Swiping through 500+ photos feels smooth and responsive. **Bugfixes** - Merging duplicate clusters now maintains chronological card order - Moving photos between events properly resets curation progress so you can re-review - Shared albums now default to expanded in the album picker