iCloud Library

Darkroom works directly with your Apple Photos library. There's no catalog to manage, no proprietary library format, and no importing step — just open Darkroom and your photos are there.

Why Darkroom Uses iCloud Photos

Darkroom reads the Apple Photos library instead of keeping a catalog of its own. iCloud Photos is what carries those files to your other devices. The files stay where Apple Photos manages them.

This means:

• Instant access. Any photo or video in your library is immediately available in Darkroom — including albums, favorites, and shared albums.
• No duplicate files. Darkroom never copies your photos into its own storage.
• No lock-in. If you stop using Darkroom, your photos remain in Apple Photos, untouched.

When you first open Darkroom, it will ask for access to your photo library. You can grant access to all photos, or choose to give access to individual photos one at a time.

Note that Darkroom does not currently support local catalogs or folder-based libraries like some desktop editors (e.g. Lightroom Classic). If your workflow revolves around importing photos from a DSLR or mirrorless camera into a local catalog, you'll need to import those photos first for Darkroom to access them.

How Edits Are Stored

All edits you make in Darkroom are non-destructive. Your original photo or video is never modified. Instead, Darkroom stores your adjustments in its own database on your device.

This is different from editors that write sidecar files (like .xmp files) or embed edit metadata into the image. Darkroom keeps its edit data separate, which means:

• Your originals are always preserved, exactly as Apple Photos manages them.
• When you export with Save (Modify Original), Apple Photos stores that edit as a new version. You can revert that version to the original in Photos.
• Reset Edits clears the sliders in Darkroom. It does not remove a version already written into Apple Photos.
• Edit data is lightweight and stored locally on your device.

What Syncs & What Doesn't

Because Darkroom builds on Apple Photos, it's important to understand what iCloud handles and what it doesn't.

Photos & videos sync via iCloud

Your photos and videos sync across all your Apple devices through iCloud Photos. Any photo you take on your iPhone will appear in Darkroom on your iPad or Mac, and vice versa. This is handled entirely by Apple — Darkroom simply reads from your library.

Darkroom edits do not sync automatically

Darkroom's edit data is stored locally on each device. If you edit a photo on your iPhone, that edit won't automatically appear when you open Darkroom on your iPad or Mac.

To transfer your edits across devices, use Save (Modify Original). This writes the edited version back into Apple Photos as the modified original, which then syncs via iCloud. The other device will see the saved result, though it will appear as a new starting point rather than an editable Darkroom adjustment stack.

Apple Photos keeps showing the unedited photo until you do that. The preview inside Darkroom is not the library item.

If you delete Darkroom

Deleting the app removes Darkroom's edit database on that device. It does not delete your photos.

• Photos you already exported with Save or Save Copy stay in Apple Photos, and they keep syncing through iCloud Photos.
• Adjustments you never exported exist only in Darkroom. They are gone after the app is deleted, and reinstalling does not bring that slider stack back.
• Presets are separate. Custom and community presets sync through iCloud, so they return after you reinstall when you're on the same Apple ID with iCloud Drive on. If a device comes back empty, open Settings and use Clear Sync Cache.

A photo you saved still opens. What you get is the exported image, not the adjustments that made it.

Offline Editing

You can edit photos in Darkroom even when you're offline — as long as the photo is available locally on your device.

Apple Photos manages a local cache of your photos. When your device has enough storage, it keeps full-resolution versions of recent and frequently accessed photos. Older or less-used photos may be stored only in iCloud, with a lower-resolution thumbnail kept on your device.

Darkroom has no control over this cache. If a photo hasn't been downloaded to your device, you'll need an internet connection for Apple Photos to fetch it before you can edit at full resolution. You can manually download photos in Apple Photos to ensure they're available offline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related

• Library View — albums, the grid, and browsing your library
• Import — bringing in photos that aren't in Apple Photos yet
• Export, Save or Share — Save (Modify Original) is how a finished edit syncs through iCloud
• Presets — preset sync is separate, and does travel across devices