PhotoCore 1.10: albums out of Photos, the why behind Best Shot, searches worth keeping
Three requests came in after 1.9: bring the albums of Apple Photos onto a disk as real folders, understand why PhotoCore picked one photo and not another, and save a search to run it again tomorrow. Version 1.10 answers all three, and adds a first launch that explains what happens on your Mac before asking you for a folder.
Last updated: 24 September 2026 · PhotoCore 1.10
Export albums as folders
If you already have an archive made with Archive Apple Photos (the feature from 1.7), you can now export its albums as plain folders on a disk you choose. One folder per album; the folders you created in Photos become subfolders; a photo that sits in two albums lands in both. Inside each album, Originals and Current edits, your call. Photos outside any album can go, if you like, in Unfiled. You can export all albums or only the ones you pick.
Every file is written, read back and checked against the fingerprint of the original. On the same APFS disk the copy is instant and takes no extra space. Each export creates a new folder called PhotoCore Albums with the date: nothing inside the archive, in Photos or in a previous export is ever touched.
If you unplug the disk or quit the app, the export stops where it was; from the source menu you pick it up from there, without copying again. After updating the archive you can number the files in the order you arranged them in Photos, so that order survives in Finder and in any other app. At the end, a report you can read in a browser and a JSON manifest listing every file, its fingerprint and its outcome, both reachable from the archive summary or from the source menu.
Why this Best Shot?
In groups of similar shots, the outlined star on the recommended photo is now clickable. A popover says in one or two lines why PhotoCore prefers it: sharper subject detail, less highlight clipping, better captured faces, a higher visual score. Only reasons that were actually measured, in plain words, with a Show details option for the numbers behind them.
When the top two are too close, the popover says so and sends you to Compare to decide yourself; View group isolates the similar shots in the gallery. Your Picks still win: a Pick covers the star, as before, and the explanation stays available from the context menu. The 1.9 scores have not changed: the Best Shots are the same, now with the why.
Saved searches
Save the criteria and run the search again whenever you like: from the bookmark button at the right of the field, or from the new Search menu (cmd-F takes you to the field). Text, filters, sources, Picks and ranking are kept. Every time you reopen it, the search runs again on the photos you have at that moment, including the ones that arrived after you saved it.
When a saved search is active, a chip in the filter row shows its name. Change a filter and Modified appears: update the search, save it as new or revert. If one of its folders is on a disk that is not connected, you can run it on the available sources without changing the saved one; if a folder was removed, PhotoCore tells you before doing anything. Rename, duplicate, delete, and a search deleted by mistake comes back with cmd-Z.
A first launch that explains
Three clear steps: what stays on your Mac, what the local engine does (with the real size of the optional model, read from your Mac), where your photos are: a folder, your iPhone or the Photos library. If you already have an archive you will not see it again; it is always in Help > Get Started.
As soon as a folder is ready, an invitation to describe a photo you remember appears under the field, once. The suggestions panel under the field has Hide suggestions, and you can turn it back on in Settings; recents and examples stay reachable from the bookmark button. The examples are new too: eighteen phrases, all positive, from poses and celebrations to precise objects such as "a red sports car", to show how far search goes.
Improvements and fixes
- Free space on external disks is now read correctly: the archive and the export no longer refuse an almost empty disk.
- The Guide has a new section on the archive and the export, and the search sections explain saved searches.
- Interface details: the Easy/Pro switch, the
AdvancedandOptionslabels clickable in full, the archive summary buttons aligned. - Every new label speaks English, Italian and Spanish from day one.
Questions about 1.10
Does exporting albums change anything in Apple Photos or in my archive?
Do I need an archive before I can export albums?
What does "verified" mean for the exported files?
Is a saved search a fixed list of photos?
Did the Best Shot ranking change in 1.10?
Features in this release
Try it with 200 photos, free
Download PhotoCore Light, search for something you remember and click the star on the recommended shot to read why. When you want your Apple Photos albums on a disk of your own, PhotoCore Full does it, verified file by file.