Alex Ruben
How To Seamlessly Merge Two Photos on iPhone
So, you want to merge two photos right on your iPhone without jumping into complicated apps or dragging your laptop into the mix? Yeah, it’s totally doable with the Shortcuts app — a free, built-in tool that can make photo collages or side-by-side images without much fuss. The thing is, if you’ve never tinkered with shortcuts before, it might feel a little weird. Sometimes the actions don’t quite work the first time, especially if permissions or settings aren’t squared away. But with a few tweaks, you’ll have a neat little shortcut that lets you pick two photos and spit out a combined one—no photo editor needed.
By following this, you’ll be able to create quick collages or just merge images for sharing. Expect a straightforward flow, but keep in mind some quirks — like, if permissions aren’t right, it’ll fail silently or give you an error. That’s why checking the privacy settings for Photos and Shortcuts is a good idea before diving in. If things don’t work immediately, a quick restart or toggling permissions can fix the weirdness.
How to Combine Two Photos on Your iPhone Using Shortcuts
Open the Shortcuts App and Set Up Your Shortcut
First off, find the Shortcuts app on your iPhone. Usually, it’s pre-installed, but if not, you can grab it from the App Store. When you open it, you’ll want to tap the plus icon (+) at the top right to create a new shortcut. This is where the magic begins. If you’re new to this, it helps to know that each shortcut is basically a little script that automates tasks. Don’t worry — it’s kinda fun once you get the hang of it.
Once you’re in the blank canvas, tap on the top title (which probably says “New Shortcut”) and rename it to something like Combine Photos. Then press Done. This is your labeled button for later.
Add Action to Pick Photos (and Enable Multiple Choice)
This is key. Tap the search icon in the bottom bar and look for Select Photos. Tap it, then make sure to toggle on Select Multiple. That way, you can pick two or more pictures at once instead of just one. Without this, you’d be stuck with a single image, and that’s not the point. The reason this helps is straightforward — it saves you from running the shortcut twice or messing around with workarounds.
On some setups, it’s weird — the permission prompt appears after you run the shortcut, which can cause confusion, so check your privacy settings first. (Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Photos and make sure Shortcuts has access.)
Add the Combine Images Action and Configure Layout
Next, back in the actions search, type in Combine Images. Tap to add it. By default, it might be set to combine horizontally, but I’ve found that changing it to Vertically or Grid usually gives a better-looking result depending on your photos. If you want them side by side, stick with Horizontal; for stacked, go vertical. It’s kinda trial and error, but switching layouts is as simple as tapping the option in that action.
This step’s kinda crucial because the way images are combined impacts how they look. On some apps or shortcuts, it fails if the image sizes don’t match, so you might want to resize pics beforehand if alignment looks wonky.
Save the Merged Photo to Photos
Search for Save to Photos and add that. It’ll automatically put the final image into your camera roll. That’s the whole goal, right? After that, tap Done at the top right to lock in your shortcut. You’ve just made your own little photo-merging tool.
Add Shortcut to Home Screen for Quick Access
Now, find your new Combine Photos shortcut in the list. Tap and hold it, then choose Details. From there, hit Add to Home Screen and tap Add in the corner. Boom — now you have an icon right on your home screen. On one setup it worked, on another… not so much, but it usually does after a restart or if permissions get reset. Super handy for quick merges without jumping into Photos or apps every time.
Use the Shortcut and Merge Your Photos
Whenever you want to merge two images, just tap that home screen icon. You’ll be prompted to pick your photos. Select the two, tap Add, and wait a few seconds while it does its thing. After that, check your Photos app; the new combined image should be waiting at the bottom of your gallery. Sometimes, the images come out a bit off if their dimensions differ wildly — resizing or cropping before using the shortcut can help make it look more polished.
Extra Tips & Common Pitfalls
- Make sure your photos are roughly the same size if you want a clean, even look. You can crop or resize them manually before using the shortcut.
- If the shortcut refuses to run or gives an error, double-check the app permissions. Sometimes iOS blocks access without clear warnings.
- Experiment with the layout options (horizontal, vertical, grid) to see what suits your photos best.
- In case it’s acting weird, a quick reboot or toggling permission settings often solves it.
Wrap-up
This method isn’t perfect—sometimes it requires a few tries, especially with mixed photo sizes, but overall, it’s a quick way to whip up collages or side-by-side images directly on your iPhone without fumbling through heaps of apps. Works for tons of other quick adjustments, too, once you get how shortcuts work.
Summary
- Use Shortcuts to create and customize your own merge tool.
- Allow Select Multiple in Photos to pick more than one image at once.
- Set the desired layout (horizontal, vertical, grid).
- Save the combined image directly to your Photos app.
Final thought
Hopefully this shaves off a few hours for someone. Not gonna lie — I’ve had some weird hiccups, but once it clicks, it’s pretty satisfying. Just something that worked on multiple machines, so fingers crossed it helps your workflow too. Happy merging!