Want to put two pictures side-by-side on your iPhone? I will show you how you can do it using an iOS shortcut. Or You have to rely on third-party apps to join two images together. Also, the Photos app doesn’t provide any means to combine two photos. So, the iPhone Shortcut app is the only way to put two pictures side-by-side natively.

Using the Shortcut app involves creating and designing the parameters for a shortcut that will join the two photos. Secondly, launch that shortcut and select two desired images, and they will join side-by-side automatically. While it may sound like a tough task, it is easy to do.

Create a Shortcut that Merges Two Images 

Let us use the Shortcuts app and design a shortcut for merging the images on iPhone.

  1. Launch the Shortcuts app.
  2. Tap on the + icon at the top right corner.
  3. Next, tap on the Search for Apps & Actions field at the bottom of the screen.
  4. In the same search field type Select Photos.
    create a shortcut to merge images on iPhone
  5. Tap on the blue arrow icon beside Select Photos.
  6. Enable the feature Select Multiple by tapping the toggle beside it.
    enable select multiple photos
  7. Use the search field and type Combine Images.
  8. Once you see Combine Images, under that set the view to Horizontally. This means when you combine the two images the orientation will be horizontal.
  9. Tap the down arrow near the option Horizontally to set a space between two images. Skip this step if you do not want to maintain space between the photos being joined.
    set horizontal orientation for combined images
  10. Using the search field of the Shortcuts app search for the action Save to Photo Album.
  11. When it appears in the search result, tap on Save to Photo Album.
  12. Tap the shortcut name at the top of the screen to rename it to something convenient.
    rename the iPhone shortcut for combining photos
  13. Again tap on the shortcut name at the top and select Add to Home Screen. This will create an icon of the shortcut on the home screen of the iPhone for easy accessibility.
  14. Once you are finished creating the shortcut, tap on Done to close the Shortcuts app.
    add the combine two photos on iPhone shortcut to home screen

Put Two Pictures Side-by-Side Using iPhone Shortcut

Now, it is time to put the Shortcut we created previously into action and combine two images.

  1. From your iPhone home screen launch the Shortcut app you just created.
  2. Start by selecting the two images that you want to merge.
  3. Once you are done selecting both photos tap on Add.
  4. Launch the Photos app because as per the Shortcut the combined image would be saved to the Photos album.
  5. Within the Photos app, you can see the new combined image. Tap on it to view.
    put two photos side by side on iPhone

Now, you can share this image on social media, copy and paste it, email it to a contact, or edit it using the tools provided within the iOS Photos app.

Alternative Ways to Combine Two Pictures on iPhone

If you do not want to go through setting up the shortcut app and find it tedious, directly use third-party apps to combine two photos. I suggest using the Canva app as it is quite easy to use and the application is free to download and use.

  1. Install Canva from the App Store.
  2. Launch the app and sign in using your email ID/Apple ID.
  3. On the home screen, tap the + icon to start a new design.
  4. Select a design. For example, I chose the aspect ratio for a Twitter post.
    use canva to join two images
  5. Tap the button + > Uploads to upload the two images you want to merge.
  6. Resize the image on the canvas and align them manually beside each other by dragging and dropping.
  7. Once you have finished combining the images, tap the Download icon to save the combined image to your Photos app.
    merge two photos side by side on iPhone

Wrapping Up

That’s a wrap on this guide describing how to put two pictures side-by-side on iPhone. You can use the Shortcuts app or interactive apps like Canva to merge two photos of your choice. I hope this guide was helpful.

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