Support

Setup, fixes, and a person who answers email

First run on a Mac

1. Launch Best Expression once. This registers the extension with macOS; the app itself is just the front door.
2. Click Continue and allow photo library access when macOS asks, or grant it later when the extension asks from inside Photos.
3. In Photos, open a photo and click Edit, then the ••• button in the top right toolbar, then Best Expression.

First run on iPhone or iPad

1. Install Best Expression and keep it installed; Photos loads the extension from it.
2. In Photos, open a photo and tap Edit, then the ••• button in the top corner, then Extensions, then Best Expression.
3. Allow photo library access when Photos asks the first time.

The extension is missing from the ••• menu

1. On a Mac: make sure you launched the app at least once, then open System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Photos Editing and switch on Best Expression.
2. On iPhone and iPad: make sure the app is still installed; the extension lists under Extensions in the ••• menu.
3. Quit Photos fully and reopen it. Photos reads its extension list at launch.

“No other shots found”

The search looks for photos taken near the same moment. Widen the search window (it reaches out to six hours), or use Add From Library… and hand-pick any shots of the same person. Photos stored in iCloud download on demand, so a slow connection makes the first scan take longer.

A face won't match across shots

The matcher needs the same person at a roughly similar position and size. Add references taken closer in time, or use Add From Library… and pick the shots yourself. If a face never got detected at all, press and hold it to add it; on a Mac you can also right-click and choose Add Face Here.

Live Photos

Saving an edit keeps the edited still and switches off the motion, as with every third-party Photos editor. Revert to Original brings the motion back. Duplicate the photo in Photos before editing if you want a moving copy and an edited copy side by side.

Undo everything

Edits are non-destructive. On a Mac, in Photos: Image → Revert to Original. On iPhone and iPad: open the photo, tap Edit, then Revert. The untouched shot comes back, whenever, always.

Requirements

iPhone and iPad on iOS or iPadOS 17 or later; Apple silicon Macs on macOS 14 or later. One purchase covers all three. Everything runs on device with no network connections; see the privacy policy, which fits on a postcard.

Report a bug

Write what you did, what you expected, and what happened instead, plus your macOS or iOS version. Screenshots help. Send nothing you would mind a stranger seeing; a screenshot of the sliders is plenty, the photo itself is rarely needed. Email or GitHub, whichever you prefer.