Sharing photos on your iPhone with friends and family has become an integral part of modern life. Whether it’s capturing precious moments from a vacation, a family gathering, or just everyday life, the ability to quickly and easily share these memories is invaluable. Apple’s Shared Albums feature offers a seamless way to do just that, allowing you to share photos and videos with chosen individuals, who can also contribute their own content and comments.
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about using Shared Albums on your iPhone, ensuring you can effortlessly share your cherished photos and videos.
Understanding Shared Albums
Shared Albums, formerly known as iCloud Photo Sharing in earlier iOS versions, is a feature within the Apple Photos app that lets you create albums of photos and videos and share them with specific people. The beauty of Shared Albums lies in its collaborative nature; not only can you share your own photos, but invitees can also add their photos and videos to the album, creating a collective space for memories. This makes it perfect for group events, family trips, or ongoing projects where multiple people are capturing moments.
A key advantage of Shared Albums is that they don’t count against your iCloud storage limit. This means you can share thousands of photos and videos without worrying about filling up your personal iCloud storage. There is a limit of 5,000 photos and videos per shared album in total, which is still substantial for most sharing needs.
Setting Up Shared Albums
Before diving into sharing, ensure Shared Albums is enabled on your iPhone. Usually, this feature is turned on by default, but it’s always good to check.
To turn on Shared Albums:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Tap on your Apple ID name at the top.
- Select iCloud.
- Tap on Photos.
- Make sure the Shared Albums toggle is turned on (green).
With Shared Albums enabled, you’re ready to start sharing your photos.
Sharing Photos on Your iPhone
The most common use case is sharing photos directly from your iPhone. Here’s how to master the art of sharing photos using Shared Albums:
Creating a New Shared Album
Creating a shared album is the first step to sharing your photos with others.
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Tap on the Albums tab at the bottom.
- Scroll down to the Shared Albums section.
- Tap on Shared Albums, then tap Create Shared Album.
- Give your shared album a descriptive name, for example, “Family Vacation in Hawaii” or “Project Team Photos”.
- Tap Next.
- Choose people to invite to the album. You can select contacts from your list or manually type in email addresses or iMessage phone numbers.
- Tap Create.
Once created, the empty album is ready for you to add photos and invite collaborators. The alt text for this image is “Creating a new shared album on iPhone”, accurately describing the action depicted in the icon and incorporating relevant keywords.
Adding Photos to a Shared Album
With your shared album created, the next step is to populate it with your photos and videos.
- Navigate to your Library or a specific album within the Photos app where your desired photos are located.
- Tap Select in the top right corner.
- Select the photos and videos you want to share by tapping on each one. A blue checkmark will appear on selected items.
- Tap the Share button in the bottom left corner. It looks like a box with an arrow pointing upwards.
- In the share sheet, tap Add to Shared Album.
- Choose the shared album you just created or an existing one from the list.
- Tap Post.
The alt text for this image is “Adding photos to a shared album from iPhone library”, clearly indicating the action of adding photos to a shared album from the iPhone photo library, utilizing keywords like “photos”, “shared album”, and “iPhone”.
Alternatively, if you are already viewing a specific shared album:
- Open the Shared Album.
- Tap the Add button, which looks like a plus icon, usually located at the top or bottom of the screen.
- Select the photos and videos you wish to add.
- Tap Done.
Inviting More People to a Shared Album
Sharing is caring, and Shared Albums make it easy to expand your circle of collaborators.
- Open the Shared Album you want to add people to.
- Tap the More button, represented by three dots in a circle, usually located in the top right corner.
- Tap Shared Album Details.
- Tap Invite People.
- Enter the names, email addresses, or phone numbers of the people you want to invite.
- Tap Done.
You can also share a public link to your shared album, allowing anyone with the link to view the photos in a web browser. To do this, in Shared Album Details, toggle on Public Website. Be mindful of privacy when enabling this feature, as anyone with the link can access the album.
Managing Subscribers of a Shared Album
As the creator of a shared album, you have control over who can access and contribute to it. You can remove subscribers at any time.
- Open the Shared Album.
- Tap the More button, then tap Shared Album Details.
- Scroll down to the list of subscribers.
- Tap on the name of the subscriber you want to remove.
- Tap Remove Subscriber.
This action will revoke their access to the shared album, and they will no longer see updates or be able to contribute.
Deleting Photos and Videos from a Shared Album
Mistakes happen, or sometimes you need to remove content from a shared album.
- Open the Shared Album.
- Tap on the photo or video you want to delete.
- Tap the Trash button, usually located at the bottom or top right corner.
- Tap Delete Photo (or Delete Video) to confirm.
The alt text for this image is “Delete photo icon in a shared album on iPhone”, clearly showing the icon used for deleting photos within a shared album on an iPhone, incorporating keywords like “delete photo”, “shared album”, and “iPhone”.
Remember that if you are the album owner, deleting content removes it for everyone. Subscribers can only delete content they personally added.
Saving Photos and Videos from a Shared Album
While Shared Albums are great for sharing, you might also want to save photos from a shared album to your personal library.
- Open the Shared Album.
- Tap on the photo or video you want to save.
- Tap the Share button.
- Scroll down and tap Save Image or Save Video.
This will download a copy of the photo or video to your Photos library, separate from the shared album.
Using Shared Albums on Your Mac
While the focus is “How To Share A Photo On Iphone”, Shared Albums seamlessly integrate across Apple devices, including Macs. The process is similar, ensuring a consistent experience.
Creating a New Shared Album on Mac
- Open the Photos app on your Mac.
- In the sidebar on the left, click the + (Add) button next to Shared Albums.
- Enter a name for your Shared Album.
- In the “Share with” field, enter the email addresses of people you want to invite. You can also click the + button to select contacts.
- Click Create.
Adding Photos to a Shared Album on Mac
- Select the photos and videos you want to share from your Photos library.
- Click the Share button in the toolbar (it looks like an upward-pointing arrow).
- Select Shared Albums.
- Choose the album you want to add to from the list.
You can also drag photos directly from your library into the shared album in the sidebar.
File Types and Storage Limits
Shared Albums are versatile, supporting a wide range of image and video formats:
Image Formats:
- HEIF
- JPEG
- RAW*
- PNG
- GIF
- TIFF
Video Formats:
- HEVC
- MP4
- QuickTime
- H.264
- MPEG-4
Videos can be up to 15 minutes long and are delivered at up to 720p resolution. Shared GIFs are limited to 100MB. Keep in mind that photos are reduced to 2048 pixels on the long edge when shared, except for panoramas which can be up to 5400 pixels wide.
As mentioned earlier, Shared Albums have a storage limit of 5,000 photos and videos per album, but they do not count against your iCloud storage quota. This makes them an efficient way to share large numbers of photos and videos without impacting your personal storage.
Conclusion
Shared Albums offer a fantastic and user-friendly way to share photos and videos on your iPhone and across the Apple ecosystem. From creating albums and inviting collaborators to managing content and saving shared memories, the feature provides a comprehensive solution for sharing visual stories with the people who matter most. By following this guide, you can confidently use Shared Albums to enhance your photo sharing experience and stay connected through shared visual memories. Start sharing your photos on your iPhone today and unlock the collaborative potential of Shared Albums!
