On this day: rediscovering your photo memories

Somewhere in your camera roll is a photo from exactly three years ago today that you'd love to see again. On this day features bring those photos back: a first day at school, a beach you'd forgotten, a grandparent's birthday. This article explains how they work, how to get the most from them, and how the Photohawk app does it.

How on this day works

The idea is simple. Every photo carries the date and time it was taken. An on this day view looks for photos taken on today's date in earlier years and shows them, grouped by year: "1 year ago", "3 years ago", "8 years ago".

Because it works on dates, it needs nothing clever. It doesn't need to recognise anyone, and it doesn't need to send anything anywhere. That makes it one of the most private ways to rediscover photos.

On iPhone already

The Photos app on iPhone creates Memories: short collections built around dates, places and people, sometimes set to music. Look for them in the Photos app's Memories collection. They're a nice surprise, though you don't choose when they appear.

Make sure the photos are there to find

On this day can only show photos that are in your library with the right date:

• Get photos from chats into your library. Family photos often arrive by WhatsApp, and on iPhone they don't reach your Photos app unless you turn on Save to Photos. See saving WhatsApp photos to your camera roll.
• Check dates on old scans. Scanned prints usually carry the date they were scanned. Most photo apps let you adjust the date of a photo.
• Bring old phones' photos across. If photos from an old phone are only on a computer, import them.

On this day in the Photohawk app

Photohawk Family, our app for your family's photos, is coming soon to iPhone. Its On this day is free and works like this:

• A card on Home when there are photos from today's date in past years.
• A full view by year, "2 years ago", with each year's photos together.
• The people in them, if you've turned on face grouping, so you can see who was there.
• Share a year, or all of it, with the people you choose. Children are never suggested as recipients.
• A home-screen widget on iPhone, showing a photo and "N years ago". It never shows names.

There's also a morning reminder, off until you turn it on. It's a notification made on your phone, not sent from a server, and it only says how many photos there are: "On this day: 6 photos from past years". No names, no faces, no photo on your lock screen.

Turn memories into something

A memory is nicer when it goes somewhere:

• Send it to the people in it. The friend in the photo from five years ago will be glad to see it. See sharing photos with grandparents automatically for keeping family in the loop.
• Start a year's album. If today's memory reminds you of a whole trip, gather the rest while you're thinking of it.
• Print one. A photo on the fridge is seen far more than one on a phone.

Memories and children

For parents, on this day is often where you notice how much a child has changed. If you'd like to go further, a person's page in the Photohawk app shows their photos by year and month, so you can scroll from a baby's first weeks to today. Our article on organising photos of kids as they grow has ideas for keeping those years in order.

Private by design

On this day uses dates, not face data. In the Photohawk app:

• It works without face grouping.
• Your photos stay on your phone unless you share them.
• The reminder and the widget never show names.

Photohawk Family is coming soon to iPhone, with Android to follow. Keep an eye on photohawk.com for the launch.