Microsoft has made changes to the Photos app on Windows 11 recently. For one, it migrated the Photos app from UWP to Windows App SDK. Microsoft furthermore began to
add AI features to the app, similarly to how it added AI to other parts of the operating system.
Some users are also reporting that the Photos app is autostarting with Windows 11. I could not verify this on Windows 11 version 24H2 devices, but maybe that is something that Microsoft is still testing or rolling out gradually to test reactions.
The change landed in version 2024.11050.3002.0 of the Photos app. You can check the version by opening the Microsoft Photos app on your device and selecting Settings. The version is displayed under "about" at the bottom of the page that opens.
The two main issues that (some) users of the new photos app experienced are:
- The app is set to autostart with the operating system. This slows down the start of the PC.
- The app takes longer to launch.
Launching the Photos app on start of the system may be beneficial to users, who use it regularly. It is problematic for users who do not use it at all. The main reason for that is that it slows down the start of the Windows system without having any use when the system is running.
