Amazon today launched a new Prime Photos feature called "Family Vault", which extends the unlimited photo storage that Amazon Prime subscribers get to their friends and family members (via TechCrunch).

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For those unfamiliar with Amazon Prime, a $99 per year subscription includes free two-day shipping, unlimited streaming of movies, TV shows and music, and unlimited photo storage, among other benefits. With the arrival of Family Vault, Prime subscribers can now invite up to five family members or friends to join their online account, where they can combine photos and each get another 5GB of storage for uploading videos and other files.

The thinking behind Family Vault is to allow close friends and families to see each other's photos and videos in a single location, and be able to access them on their own devices, at no cost to those added by the Prime account holder.

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The Family Plan announcement also ushers in some new search technology for Prime Photos users, including keyword-related searches for photos with a specific theme or subject (e.g. cat, wedding, beach, and so on) and a face-finding feature called "People".

Amazon is also formally announcing a new low-cost photo printing service, with prints starting at 9 cents, with free shipping for Prime members.

Further details of all of the company's newly announced features can be found on Amazon's Photos minisite or through the Amazon Photos mobile app.

Top Rated Comments

chr1s60 Avatar
117 months ago
I can't speak for countries other than the US, but having been a Prime member for about a decade now, it is by far one of the best investments one can make. It used to pay for itself in just shipping costs alone and over the past 5 years it has continually gotten better. I don't see them losing me as a customer any time soon.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
117 months ago
I've been wanting Apple to do this with iCloud storage. I pay for 1TB/mo and only have 205GB on there (I recently had to upgrade because I kept bumping up against the 200GB limit and kept having to delete videos). So I have about 800GB free and can't even share it with my wife—even though we share apps, movies, TV shows, games, Apple Music, etc—I have to buy her a separate storage account. IDK why it can't be shared among everyone in the family like literally everything else including location, notes, reminders, and calendars. As the head of the family I should be able to allocate space to each user, as well as share certain folders. I hope Apple is working on this functionality!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
autumnpatchouli Avatar
117 months ago
Amazon Prime Photos, which I've used since it was available, was basically an afterthought bonus to Prime members. That said, it is now superior to Apple photos. Apple just can't seem to get photos right. I use it as my photo entry point, which is then farmed automatically out to Prime, Google photos, Flickr, & One Drive. All, with maybe the exception of One Drive, are better at what they do than Apple photos. The facial recognition not being synced between devices (last time I looked) is ridiculous. Search is inferior. And every system update seems to screw up photos in some way. Add to that the fact I pay $900 for their phone, and get a paltry 5gb of cloud storage. So I have to bother with $.99 a month for 45gb more.i do love Apple phones, but this company nickels & dimes you to death on their services.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maxsix Avatar
117 months ago


What I don't like about Apple's "stuff" is that except for Music, I can't really think of anything they have that is cross platform. I know they want to lock you into their ecosystem but it just annoys me to the point I am breaking out of the ecosystem every way I can.
So very true. The irony is I began enjoying Apples finest work years ago, yet today one must accept great limitations to do so.
[doublepost=1476797879][/doublepost]
I've been wanting Apple to do this with iCloud storage. I pay for 1TB/mo and only have 205GB on there (I recently had to upgrade because I kept bumping up against the 200GB limit and kept having to delete videos). So I have about 800GB free and can't even share it with my wife—even though we share apps, movies, TV shows, games, Apple Music, etc—I have to buy her a separate storage account. IDK why it can't be shared among everyone in the family like literally everything else including location, notes, reminders, and calendars. As the head of the family I should be able to allocate space to each user, as well as share certain folders. I hope Apple is working on this functionality!
Apples obsession as a controlling dictator overrides common sense.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maflynn Avatar
117 months ago
Amazon is becoming the new Google. :(
yes, and I'd say at this point they may be out-googling google.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iSRS Avatar
117 months ago
I've been wanting Apple to do this with iCloud storage. I pay for 1TB/mo and only have 205GB on there (I recently had to upgrade because I kept bumping up against the 200GB limit and kept having to delete videos). So I have about 800GB free and can't even share it with my wife—even though we share apps, movies, TV shows, games, Apple Music, etc—I have to buy her a separate storage account. IDK why it can't be shared among everyone in the family like literally everything else including location, notes, reminders, and calendars. As the head of the family I should be able to allocate space to each user, as well as share certain folders. I hope Apple is working on this functionality!
Me too! This looks like exactly what I want, and will stop the "nudging" from my wife that she need the pictures off her iPhone and the kids' iPhones added to Photos so she can print them.

This is the perfect all in one solution. Bravo, Amazon, bravo...

One Question: Do the family members have unlimited photo uploads and the 5GB is limited to video and other files? This is how I understand it. Looking to see if anyone knows for sure.

As far as an Amazon Prime app for the Apple TV? I've given up hope. And since trying to find a non-smart TV in 2016 was a near impossibility, isn't an issue for me any longer...
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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