Organising photos of your kids as they grow

The first year alone can produce thousands of photos. By the time a child starts school, a family library can hold tens of thousands, across several phones and a few chat groups. Most parents mean to organise them and never quite do. This article sets out a simple system that keeps up with itself: by person, by time, and a few milestones, with as little sorting as possible.

Principle 1: let the people do the sorting

The single most useful way to organise family photos is by person. "Every photo of Leo" answers most of the questions you'll ever ask your library. Doing it by hand is hopeless; letting an app group faces does it for you.

On iPhone, the Photos app groups faces into people. Name each child once. The Photohawk app, coming soon to iPhone, does the same with a few extras built for families:

• Two faces in one photo are never the same person, so a parent holding a baby, or two siblings side by side, aren't merged.
• Close calls are checked with you: "Is this Leo?" Answer a few and the groups get better.
• Your corrections win: tell it a photo isn't Leo, or merge two groups, and that sticks.

See how to find every photo of your child for step-by-step tips.

Expect the baby years to need help

Babies change faster than any face-grouping system would like. A newborn's photos often end up in a separate group from the same child at two. Every few months, look for a second group that's really your child and merge them. After the toddler years, groups usually stay stable.

Principle 2: browse by time

Once each child's photos are together, time does the rest. Being able to scroll through a child's photos by year and month is what turns a pile into a story.

In the Photohawk app, each person has a page with their photos sorted by month, from the earliest to today. It's the quickest way to find "Leo's third birthday" without remembering the date.

Check your dates. Photos from chats and scans can carry the date they were saved, not taken. If a photo shows up in the wrong year, fix its date in your photo app.

Principle 3: a few milestone albums

People and dates cover most needs. Add a small number of albums for things you'll want in one place:

• Firsts: first smile, first steps, first day at school.
• Birthdays: one album per child, adding each year.
• School photos: so the official ones don't get lost among the rest.
• The photo book shortlist: anything you'd print.

Keep it to a handful. Albums that need constant feeding are the first thing to fall behind.

Principle 4: get every photo in

Your system is only as complete as your library. Two common gaps:

• WhatsApp. On iPhone, photos from chats don't reach your Photos app unless you turn on Save to Photos. Our guide to saving WhatsApp photos to your camera roll shows how.
• The other parent's phone. Share photos of the children with each other as you take them. In the Photohawk app you can set new photos of a child to go to their other parent automatically.

Principle 5: tidy little and often

Big sorting sessions don't happen. Small habits do:

• Delete the burst. Keep the best of near-identical shots.
• Clear screenshots every few weeks.
• Name new people when they appear: a new friend, a childminder.
• Revisit memories. "On this day" views are a gentle prompt to tidy a year at a time. See on this day and photo memories.

Privacy, now and later

Photos of children are personal, and today's toddler is tomorrow's teenager with opinions about what exists. A few principles:

• Keep face data on your phone where you can. In the Photohawk app, faces are found on your phone, face grouping is off until you turn it on, and cloud face matching is a separate choice. More in face grouping and privacy, explained.
• Share with people, not with the internet. Send photos to named adults rather than posting them.
• Children aren't recipients. In the Photohawk app, a child can't be invited or sent photos; photos of them go to the adults you choose.

A ten-minute monthly routine

1. Merge any new duplicate groups for each child.
2. Add the month's best to a milestone album if it earns it.
3. Delete bursts and screenshots.
4. Check WhatsApp's Save to Photos is still on for family chats.

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