Anodic titanium dioxide films, especially anodic TiO₂ nanotube arrays, have attracted extensive interest in the past decade. A number of electrolytes, either aqueous or non-aqueous, fluoride containing or fluoride free, have been chosen to grow anodic titanium oxide films. With great improvements in the morphology control on porosity, pore size, nanotube length and pore ordering, anodic titanium oxide films have been widely applied in photochemical water splitting, hydrogen sensing, dye-sensitized solar cells, templating for low dimensional nanomaterials and biomedical research. This article presents a brief review of the progress to date in the formation mechanism, morphology control and some applications of these smart materials.