PowerPhotos Supercharges and Complements What Apple Provides
PowerPhotos Supercharges and Complements What Apple Provides
I've been taking iPhone photos since 2009, lots of them. I also
own and use a DSLR, and my hard drive is full of huge raw photos
stretching back to the last century. I've used a variety of photo
management apps through the years, but let's face it, for all its many
faults, Apple's native Photos app makes it super simple to create and
share images right out of the box. This makes it tempting to use, and
few people abandon it entirely, even if they also use something more
powerful.
PowerPhotos by Fatcat Software is a powerful tool that just about perfectly complements the native macOS app. It's got the features the native app is missing. It works in conjunction with Photos to handle the tasks Apple still doesn't handle well, if at all—splitting/merging libraries, finding real duplicates, bulk metadata edits, multi-library search, and moving or copying items across libraries without losing edits or keywords.
Key Strengths
- Multiple libraries Create, split, merge, browse, and search across multiple Photos libraries (including nice touches like merge reports and album preservation).
- Real duplicate control. It groups duplicates and lets you choose keepers with rule-based logic (by metadata, keywords, etc.) instead of Photos’ opaque auto-merge. You can just delete the photos or place them into albums first.
- Batch metadata editing Edit titles, keywords, captions, individually or in bulk with templating.
- Advanced multi-library search. Build nested AND/OR queries (file size, duration, dimensions—criteria Photos lacks), search one or many libraries, and save queries.
- Copy or move between libraries. Keeps edits and metadata; the current version (3.x) provided the move option. Previous versions were copy only.
Not Perfect
- Apple is still in control - Certain actions depend on Photos/app/macOS versions. Apple changes can impose limits or require upgrades.
- Learning Curve - This is a power user's app with multiple options and features, not a set-it-and-forget-it option. Making frequent effective backups, which you test and verify, is more important than I can stress. You could mess around and delete your library with this app not paying attention. It wouldn't be easy to do, and I don't think the app is inherently dangerous. It is just powerful.
- Paid Upgrades - Although Fatcat Software offers a 50% discount to upgrade to new major versions, it's still not free. I'm not saying it should be, but I know some of you prefer a true lifetime purchase.
- Scary Apple Warnings - Apple doesn't endorse any third-party apps to integrate with Photos, including this one. This is a well-established application used by thousands of people, but be sensible and make backups. Apple isn't going to help you if you use some other app and screw up your photos.
Latest Feature Additions
As of today, the last update to PowerPhotos was in October 2025. The last update added a "Copy To / Move To" option to the context menu, something that was previously only available in drag-and-drop operations that weren't always obvious. Recent bulk metadata editing and improvements to the in-app viewer make operations quicker and smoother than in previous versions.
PowerPhotos normally sells for $39.95 on the developer's website. Upgrades are 50% off.
For just the next two weeks, you can pick up a copy from Bundlehunt for just $5.99 as part of their Black Friday sale. Don't wait around, though, because it will be gone by mid-month.