iOS 16 Makes It Easier to Share Photos With Family Using New Shared iCloud Library

Apple in iOS 16 has introduced a new iCloud Shared Photo Library, which is designed to make it much easier for you to share your photos with close family members.

share icloud photo library
An ‌iCloud‌ Shared Photo Library can be shared with up to five other people, and each contributor has equal access to add, edit, favorite, caption, and delete shared photos.

To prevent accidentally shared photos, there are smart setup rules that can be implemented. You can opt to share all past photos or just photos from a specific start date. You can also choose to share photos that have only specific people, such as your family members.

Photos can be added to the Shared Library automatically, but there are also options to share based on Bluetooth proximity. Sharing suggestions will continue to pop up in For You as well.

There's a new toggle in the Camera app that lets all the photos you take upload to the Shared Library automatically, so if you're out on vacation with your family, everyone can see vacation photos as soon as they're snapped.

Shared photos will show up in Memories, Featured ‌Photos‌, and the ‌Photos‌ widget, similar to standard ‌iCloud‌ Library images.

The ‌iCloud‌ Shared Photo Library does not appear to be implemented in the first beta, so support will likely be added in a future beta.

Related Forum: iOS 16

Top Rated Comments

I am Sampson Avatar
25 months ago
Best news of WWDC in my opinion.
Was literarily looking for a way to force all photos to be shared just a few days ago. My partner and I have no need for privacy and want to share everything just like devices under the same appleID do. Very happy about this!
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WannaGoMac Avatar
25 months ago
how is this any different than existing shared albums?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
eilavid Avatar
25 months ago
will this take up icloud storage? or is it free like the shared album feature
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Schtibbie Avatar
25 months ago

Lets also hope its not based on Apples “lets downscale to a crap resolution “ approach they have today with sharing…
Yeah.. It needs to (for me) have the following end result: We go on a vacation as a family. I take pics on my iphone. My wife takes pics on HER iphone. If either of us goes on our home macbook that contains ALL our family photos since the beginning of time, we'll find BOTH sets of pics all in the Photos application, ALL FULL RESOLUTION. We can let them live in icloud but we can ALSO fully back them up on time machine when the Macbook backs up to our external disk. And at no point do I have to plug my phone old-school-like into the macbook to upload (and then erase from my phone) my photos into the "family" Photos. I hate having to do that. It's clunky. And if i leave them on my phone after the upload we end up taking up 2x family shared cloud storage! HATE IT.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Knowledge Navigator Avatar
25 months ago
God I hope my family don't share their pictures with me, they're honestly just terrible (BTW, this is coming from a guy that takes pictures of different coloured Henry vacuum cleaners)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrSimmo Avatar
25 months ago
Lets also hope its not based on Apples “lets downscale to a crap resolution “ approach they have today with sharing…
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Delta Feature

Delta Game Emulator Now Available From App Store on iPhone

Wednesday April 17, 2024 9:58 am PDT by
Game emulator apps have come and gone since Apple announced App Store support for them on April 5, but now popular game emulator Delta from developer Riley Testut is available for download. Testut is known as the developer behind GBA4iOS, an open-source emulator that was available for a brief time more than a decade ago. GBA4iOS led to Delta, an emulator that has been available outside of...
iPhone 15 Pro Action Button Translate

All iPhone 16 Models to Feature Action Button, But Usefulness Debated

Tuesday April 16, 2024 6:54 am PDT by
Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
Provenance Emulator

PlayStation, GameCube, Wii, and SEGA Emulator for iPhone and Apple TV Coming to App Store

Friday April 19, 2024 8:29 am PDT by
The lead developer of the multi-emulator app Provenance has told iMore that his team is working towards releasing the app on the App Store, but he did not provide a timeframe. Provenance is a frontend for many existing emulators, and it would allow iPhone and Apple TV users to emulate games released for a wide variety of classic game consoles, including the original PlayStation, GameCube, Wii,...
maxresdefault

Hands-On With the New App Store Delta Game Emulator

Wednesday April 17, 2024 12:19 pm PDT by
A decade ago, developer Riley Testut released the GBA4iOS emulator for iOS, and since it was against the rules at the time, Apple put a stop to downloads. Emulators have been a violation of the App Store rules for years, but that changed on April 5 when Apple suddenly reversed course and said that it was allowing retro game emulators on the App Store. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
iOS NES Emulator Bimmy Feature

NES Emulator for iPhone and iPad Now Available on App Store [Removed]

Tuesday April 16, 2024 11:33 am PDT by
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...