Apple Announces New Features for Family Sharing, Including Shared iCloud Library

During WWDC 2022, Apple today announced new features and improvements to Family Sharing, including a long-awaited feature that lets families easily share photos and videos in the Shared Library.

f1654536609
As part of iOS 16, Apple is making it easier for parents to manage their kids' accounts, including adjusting age-appropriate restrictions and quick setup. With Quick Setup, simply put a new device near your iPhone to quickly and easily set up a new device for kids.

The biggest addition to Family Sharing in iOS 16 is iCloud Shared Photo Library, which gives families a new way to easily share photos and videos. In the Share Library, all edits, additions, and deletes are synced across all devices.

A user can also choose to send photos to the Shared Library automatically using a new toggle in the Camera app. Additionally, users will receive intelligent suggestions to share a photo that includes participants in the Shared Photo Library. Every user in the Shared Photo Library has access to add, delete, edit, or favorite the shared photos or videos, which will appear in each user's Memories and Featured Photos so that everyone can relive more complete family moments.

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Top Half

Early iOS 26 Software Leak Uncovers Dozens of Upcoming Apple Features

Monday December 15, 2025 3:05 pm PST by
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code. In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple Leak Confirms Work on Foldable iPhone, AirTag 2, and Dozens More Devices

Monday December 15, 2025 2:05 pm PST by
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak. As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
iOS 26

iOS 26.4 and iOS 27 Features Revealed in New Leak

Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28. The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 Beta 1 Features: What's New So Far

Monday December 15, 2025 4:23 pm PST by
Apple is testing iOS 26.3, the next version of iOS 26 that will launch around January. Since iOS 26.3's testing is happening over the holidays, it is a smaller update with fewer features than we've seen in prior betas. We've rounded up what's new so far, and we'll add to our list with subsequent betas if we come across any other features. Transfer to Android Apple is making it simpler...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Leak Reveals Foldable iPhone Details

Monday December 15, 2025 9:09 am PST by
The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station. According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display....
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Features Leaked in New Report, Including Under-Screen Face ID

Tuesday December 16, 2025 8:44 am PST by
Next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will be moved to the top-left corner of the screen, according to a new report from The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu. As a result of these changes, the report said the iPhone 18 Pro models will not have a pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout at the top of the screen....
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2 Likely to Offer These 10 New Features

Monday December 15, 2025 7:41 am PST by
Apple released the AirPods Max on December 15, 2020, meaning the over-ear headphones launched five years ago today. While the AirPods Max were updated with a USB-C port and new color options last year, followed by support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio this year, the headphones lack some of the features that have been introduced for newer generations of the regular AirPods and the ...
iMac Pro Mock Graphic Feature

Apple Developing iMac Pro With M5 Max Chip

Tuesday December 16, 2025 7:30 am PST by
Apple is developing a high-end iMac featuring the M5 Max chip, according to information from leaked internal software. The finding comes from leaked kernel debug kit files used by Apple engineers. These kernel debug kit files enumerate unreleased Apple hardware by internal identifiers, such as codenames and platform names, and they can also include separate references that map platform...

Top Rated Comments

james2538 Avatar
46 months ago

A user can also choose to send photos to the Shared Library automatically using a new toggle in the Camera app.
I foresee this feature getting people in trouble at some point
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
eroyce Avatar
46 months ago
We have been waiting for a proper shared photo library for so long. My wife just despises how things work today making her feel like a second class digital citizen whereas she never has the current photo library on her phone. Assuming they get the basic functionality right, this will make my life as the family computer guru so much easier.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
trainwrecka Avatar
46 months ago
I have been sharing a single iCloud account for photos, since they took this feature away years ago. Finally - we can use our personal accounts!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Menel Avatar
46 months ago
What is a pyot?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Schtibbie Avatar
46 months ago
About. Dang. Time. (The shared family album thing).
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GDF Avatar
46 months ago
Awesome - finally photo sharing for families!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)